Target Audience
by Some1Else
Summary: When deadly creatures from another dimension appear, the girls of After School Tea Time are reluctantly pulled into the fray with only one thing at their side. The power of music. It might just be enough to help them survive.
1. Constructive Criticism

**Target Audience.**

**By Some1Else.**

**Chapter 1 : Constructive Criticism.**

Azusa really wished Yui would stop swaying from side to side as the song played since now was not the time or place for such antics. She felt her fingers sink into her thighs after the last note was no longer audible. Their music was not something she should have been ashamed of, but right now she couldn't help herself. Without having to see, she knew her band mates were starting to feel a little nervous as well. There was no applause at the end of their performance. This was the second time they had stuck their necks out far enough to let someone other than their classmates listen to what they had come up with when they were actually busy being a club and it didn't look like it was going to go nearly as well. Azusa felt partially responsible. After all, this had been her idea.

They had been practicing regularly for the past few months, getting their sound together and pumping out five new songs. Tea time still happened once or twice a week, but that was down from five days, which was a clear improvement. They were finally serious about being a band. It was a shame that this would be their reward. Things would be different if this was for the school festival, but this wasn't for the students they had won over so easily.

Right now this was for a Saturday night gig at a fairly popular club which was looking for local talent. Money could possibly be involved, however slight the amount. Azusa realized all too late that college students might not be their ideal audience. The girls had been made to stand at the bar counter while their three main critics listened to their heart and soul playing through a really terrible boombox that had been cranked up loud enough that those nearby had no trouble hearing it either. They weren't even interested in the second song. The stop button had already been pressed.

The silence was almost too much to bear.

"We have nine other songs on that CD, too." Yui said helpfully.

"One is more than enough. You say Live Passion actually let you play in their joint?" their critic stated.

In front of them stood Asuka Shikinami, owner and proprietor of the ZanziBar.

"Yeah. It was really fun!" Yui replied.

Asuka grinned devilishly and scoffed in disgust. Her two other critics began snickering as well. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Then perhaps you should go back there." Asuka said.

"You didn't like it?" Yui asked.

"I'd rather listen to a cat die while it was on fire."

"Why would you do that?" Yui demanded.

"Because it would sound better than what I just heard. That's the joke, get it?" Asuka asked.

"No, not at all." Yui said.

"Did we really sound that bad?" Mio asked.

"There's this website called MySpace. I think you should look into it. Honestly, that's as far as you're ever going to get." Asuka said.

Azusa could tell Asuka was restraining herself. She must have been in a good mood today. Mio was getting ready to cry. No shock there. Yui still hadn't completely grasped what was really going on. Ritsu was positively bewildered. Tsumugi pretended to look at her surroundings to hide her eyes from everyone. Azusa stood strong while their dreams were crushed, trying not to show how bad she was feeling.

"What's with your lyrics?" the second critic, a girl with glorious short brown hair and an orange ribbon tied in it demanded. "That song just now. Was it really about a calligraphy pen?"

"It is about many things, but a calligraphy pen is indeed one of them." Yui explained helpfully.

"I think there are members within your band who are clearly superior to others. Subconsciously, you are all trying to compensate for one another so you can stay together. It just doesn't work." their third critic, a girl with short hair dyed light purple who wore glasses pointed out.

"Go home!" someone from the crowd shouted.

"I thought you said you liked what you heard in our E-Mail." Ritsu ventured, trying to get everything back on track.

That was true. Azusa found the web site, talked with the other girls about it, and got into contact with Asuka. She sent an MP3 of one of their newer songs, which she immediately regretted. In her opinion, it wasn't their best one. It didn't seem to matter now, though. Asuka lowered her head and grinned, ready to deliver the killing blow.

"I didn't. I specifically had you come down here so I could tell you how much you fail in person. You see, kids like you need this type of thing. It helps keep your heads out of the clouds. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people without talent who pretend that they do have talent. You don't know it yet, but this is actually a favor."

"So what you're saying is you had us come all the way out here just so you could embarrass us and we should be thankful for that?" Ritsu asked.

Asuka nodded. None of the people at the bar came to their rescue. In fact, it looked like they felt the same way. They were all glaring at them as if they no longer belonged where they were. It was true. None of them were twenty yet. Azusa popped the CD out of the boombox which had been meant for Asuka before she could throw it away in front of them or use it as a coaster and placed it back inside its protective case that Yui had so lovingly decorated with several different stickers. This wasn't quite as bad as she thought it was going to be. It would probably catch up with her later, but for now her confidence acted as a great buffer against Asuka and her cronies.

"Put more thought into your studies and get some boyfriends." Asuka suggested.

She gave a curt wave to dismiss them and the girls of After School Tea Time were sent packing in the midst of a flurry of snickers. What a dirty trick. It was all a horrible lie, one so awful that Azusa could hardly believe someone would be capable of such cruelty. Yet it had happened to them. In a sick, demented way, it actually made sense. They had sacrificed their evenings to meet with Asuka specifically because they thought they were going to get somewhere. She had sounded so polite and professional in the E-Mail. Asuka set up a time to do a more thorough interview and requested they bring a CD for her so she could pick which tracks she liked the best.

Azusa looked at it for a moment. So much was captured forever on the shiny disc. All their hard work. Their friendship. Immortalized. The studio they had rented last month hadn't been cheap. Those who had prepared the disc professionally for them had pretended to enjoy their work. They just loved listening to music. That's why they worked there, after all. Liars. They all had a copy of this CD already. It looked like this one would become an extra.

"What a shrew." Ritsu said.

Mio was taking it a lot harder than she should and sobbing openly. Yui had a hand to her mouth as she pondered something quietly to herself. Tsumugi offered Mio her handkerchief, which she gladly took. She then gave Mio a side hug for comfort.

"Don't take anything she said seriously, Mio-senpai." Azusa said encouragingly.

"She's right. Music sounds different for everyone." Tsumugi stated.

"It sucks that she made us come all the way out here, though. Geez! It's positively freezing out here!" Ritsu said.

Ritsu could say that again. This was the coldest winter on record in the area. Azusa had been sleeping with three blankets and a sweatshirt. Bundled up as they were, it wasn't enough. The shrill wind stabbed at them viciously, making it seem colder than it actually was. Tsumugi chanced a glance behind her shoulder, hoping in vain that at least one person would come looking for them just to say Asuka had been unfair. Just one was all she wanted. That was a wish that would not be granted. Ritsu turned around and took two steps back toward the cafe, ready to chew Asuka out. Knowing that it would just be a waste of her time, she tisked and rejoined the group of girls she was with.

Azusa heard her phone chirp as and she took it out of her pocket.

_How did it go?_

It was from Sawa-chan.

_Poorly._

Ten seconds.

_Den den den den densestu no. . ._ went Azusa's ring tone.

"Yes, sensei?" Azusa asked.

"What do you mean it went poorly?" Sawako demanded, clearly irritated.

"There's not too much verbal clutter there!" Ritsu said, overhearing what was being discussed.

Sawako took a minute to compose herself.

"Did they at least tell you why they didn't like you?"

"Not really. They pretty much made us feel awkward in front of everyone and shoved us out into the street." Azusa explained.

She could have sworn she heard Sawako instinctively hurl something across her apartment and break it against the wall, but perhaps that was the chilly wind biting at her ears.

"If someone can't tell you exactly why they didn't like you, they might as well not say anything at all. Tell everyone that right now!"

Azusa relayed the message obediently for those who weren't able to hear it.

"Did we just get flamed?" Yui asked.

"Torched! Scorched!" Ritsu replied.

"Just like that poor cat Asuka would rather listen to." Tsumugi muttered.

For some reason, Azusa found that a little funny and smiled.

"At least we didn't bring our instruments." Ritsu said.

"Don't let this stop you girls. If anything else, you've got a monopoly on the music club. Your classmates will remember you for years to come." Sawako said.

Azusa didn't say anything. She just kept looking at the CD with its catchy cover that Ritsu had designed. Mio's handwriting was the best and she had inscribed the name of their album on the disc to give it a more personal touch. How was her kanji always so neat? Tsumugi had taken pictures of the band that were included in the booklet containing their lyrics that Azusa had worked on. Much like their music, a piece of each of them had been put into the construction of the CD.

"Don't think I'm saying these things just to be nice to you, either. If I didn't like your music, do you really think I would have invested so much of my personal time in it?" Sawako continued.

"Not at all."

"I'm afraid there's more that I should say, but I can't think of anything right now. If any of you need anything, feel free to call me tonight. It won't matter what time, I promise."

"Thank you, Sawa-chan."

"Take care."

Sawako disconnected and Azusa passed along her offer. It was far too late in the evening to do anything and they were all rather tired. They eventually went their own separate ways. Ritsu had managed to put some spunk back in all of them by taking their mind off of the rejection, but that faint glow dissipated as Azusa approached her home all by herself. What the girl with the light purple hair had said who hadn't introduced herself was really starting to bother her.

She hadn't thought that there might be a weak member before, but now she couldn't stop mulling over it. Was it Tsumugi? It had to be. After all, whose idea was it to turn their club into a fancy lounge? Yui was no better. She still couldn't read music. Azusa caught herself before she could go any further and felt like a villain. She couldn't imagine playing the piano, let alone a keyboard. With that instrument, Tsumugi could pretty much be her own band with the right piece of software to help her with mixing. She didn't need any of them. Azusa truly believed that Yui had unlimited potential and if she applied herself more instead of staying in the comfortable niche she had carved out for herself she would be unstoppable.

Azusa's parents reacted the same way Sawako had and offered what encouragement they could. They had both been in a jazz band and they were positively thrilled when Azusa had picked up the guitar. Once they were sure she was good at it, they had provided her with the Mustang she now owned. It was a birthday gift and the best present she had ever received. Her mother was so excited she could barely keep it a secret from Azusa, who gradually figured out what she was going to get, much to her fathers displeasure. She didn't expect it to be such a nice guitar, though. What a memory that was.

In an effort to warn other people from befalling the same fate, Azusa stepped out of her comfort zone and posted a message on a popular image board. She didn't bother waiting around to see what other people would post as she was sure most of them would say that she deserved it. At one in the morning, Azusa was still having some problems sleeping. She couldn't shut her mind off. Thought after thought assaulted her. So many things demanded attention all at once. Weren't they supposed to play at Budokan? How were they going to get there now? That finally brought tears to her eyes and silent sniffles muffled by her bed sheets.

It would certainly not happen this way. It probably wouldn't even happen at all. Eventually her seniors would graduate, leaving her all alone. Unless they intended to go to the same college together, which seemed rather foolish, they could definitely count on disbanding once time finally caught up with them. Azusa couldn't stand thinking about this. It tore her apart. She had put too much into the friendships she had with the other girls without realizing it because they brought out the best in her. This was the price for her love.

She stole some extra strength melatonin out of the medicine cabinet and popped three pills even though the recommended dosage called for one. It was a Saturday. No big deal. This was quite a funny drug. If taken for an extended period of time, it actually woke her up. If taken from time to time, it knocked her right out. It was slightly addictive too, but she needed it. After all, she would feel slightly better about the whole thing in the morning once she slept off a great deal of the grief.

Thirty minutes later, her body was completely relaxed. Sleep overtook her slowly, one breath at a time before nothing in the world mattered any longer while her mind was finally at rest. At least in her dreams she could do the impossible. She dreamt of Budokan, which was par for the course lately. There they all were, standing on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, suspended in time, united as one.

**NEXT TIME : **Ritsu here! The man known only as **Some1Else **asked me to do the preview for the next chapter because he thought it would add a unique twist to it, so here I go! Young! Beautiful! Bold! Restless! On a day like any other, the world is totally turned upside down! Five pure maidens and their daring sensei stand together against one threat! Will their friendships survive? Can the future of music be stopped? Rated R, starts this Friday, starring yours truly. Be sure to check it out!


	2. Guitar Hero

**Chapter 2 : Guitar Hero.**

Sunday had been spent recovering from Saturday night at Tsumugi's place once homework was finished. It was too cold to be out and about, so they stayed inside and played Rock Band 3, which they all agreed was rather ironic. The game had been a random gift for Tsumugi from her parents. This sort of thing happened a lot and it was something she had never gotten used to. Ritsu was finally able to play something other than the drums and feel moderately proficient at it, but only on the easiest difficulty setting. When they came together to play online after they got used to the differences between an actual instrument and the toy controllers, they dominated the competition and had several interesting interludes with disgruntled players from America who thought that they were all a group of little boys. It had been moderately uplifting.

Monday eventually arrived with terrible fanfare. They all managed to have a rough morning in one way or the other and it didn't help that it was freezing outside. It had been cold the past two days, but now it was personal. Apparently it hadn't been this chilly today since 1958. Azusa was so cold she couldn't feel her face by the time she had stepped inside the school building. It just might be time for her to start wearing knee socks, although she hated the way those felt.

Class went by as usual. Those prone to daydreaming found the sound of the harsh wind blowing light snow against the windows outside most distracting as they tuned out their studies. Yui learned nothing that day. As usual, Azusa was looking forward to the time she would spend with her friends after school and headed up to the clubroom eagerly. From the second flight of stairs she could hear that they were already practicing. Her heart skipped a beat. This was a good sign. Usually they waited for her to arrive. She brushed her hand against the turtle at the top of the stairs for good luck and headed into the room.

"Ahoy, Azunyan! Welcome aboard!" Ritsu greeted in English as she broke out into a drum solo.

Azusa would be lying if she said she wasn't moved. They were still dedicated to the band. Sawako didn't even have to give them a pep talk.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" Tsumugi declared.

"I think I might be getting a cold. It's so cold outside that Ui made ice cubes without using the freezer last night! That's really cold!" Yui said as she put on a face mask

Azusa laughed at that, as did everyone else. Ui had probably done this to impress her sister.

"Azunyan, there's a rough draft of a new song on the table. We were just getting ready to play it." Mio said as she tuned her bass.

"I wrote it!" Yui declared proudly.

"Really?" Ritsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I talked with Ui about it and told her how I wanted everything to sound and she helped me write the notes. I did the lyrics, though. I'm pretty satisfied with them so far. I don't think there's a need to change any of them. We just need to get the song to come out the way it is in my head and we'll have something strong we can use to open a show with!"

"Sounds good." Azusa said.

She set her bag down on the bench and wandered over to the table. Green tea was on the menu for today. Azusa poured herself a quick cup and took a look at what had been done so far. It looked rather rough and there were wet spots on the piece of paper. These were likely Yui's tears. Without having to ask, Azusa knew this had been written when she had time to vent on Saturday evening. It had not been titled yet and it felt like the whole song was a way of silencing those who would stand against them on their road to success. At the very least, it was a good song to open with, just like Yui had said.

"This is actually really nice. I'm impressed, Yui-senpai." Azusa said.

"Thanks! That's the rough draft, though. There have already been several edits during the polishing phase." Yui explained.

"Ricchan, play your drums like bam bam bam instead of boom boom boom!" Ritsu said, mocking Yui's tone of voice.

Yui chuckled and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"At least we all like the song." Tsumugi said to make up for Yui's improvisation.

For the next forty five minutes, they practiced with the new song, making adjustments and changes where necessary under Yui's guidance. Mio wrote all of them down. This would have been so much easier if Yui could actually read music, but they all really felt like they were onto something, particularly when Yui started singing. Once most of Yui's song had been taken care of, they worked on a few other tunes they had in progress. Eventually they had wound up practicing for ninety minutes.

As was their custom lately, the last fifteen minutes of their day was spent with some serious tea time. Only on Thursdays and Fridays did they allow themselves to completely goof off. Sawako would visit them on occasion with no clear pattern that always kept them guessing, but somehow they had a feeling that she would most definitely be a guest today.

"This hot tea is making me even more sleepy." Yui said.

"Agreed. I wish we didn't have to go so far to get home." Ritsu said.

Azusa was feeling slightly tired as well. Maybe she could convince her parents to let her jam an hour before she went to bed since it seemed to wear her out so much. It was better than relying on a couple of pills. Perhaps she could borrow Rock Band 3 from Tsumugi since it didn't seem like she was much of a gamer.

"Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could just teleport?" Ritsu asked with a bit more energy.

"You are such a kid sometimes." Mio said.

"It would be yet another thing that would change the way we live. I don't think it will happen in our lifetime, though." Tsumugi commented.

"What's teleport?" Yui asked.

"Are you serious?" Azusa asked, to which Yui nodded eagerly. "It's where you walk through gate A and arrive at gate B."

"Good one." Ritsu said with a wink.

"That's terrible!" Yui exclaimed.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Ritsu demanded.

"Because we would all get very fat since we wouldn't have to walk everywhere like we do now!"

"Yeah?" Ritsu said with a crafty smile. "Do you want to walk home in this kind of weather?"

Yui collapsed face first into the table.

"Absolutely not. Maybe we can teleport just for today."

"Exactly!" Ritsu declared triumphantly.

"It is going to be very bad." Tsumugi said, looking out the window at the dark sky.

"I wonder if we can convince Sawako to drive us all home." Yui ventured.

"The odds of that. . ." Mio began.

There was a blood curdling scream. It came from outside, but it was loud enough they all heard it quite clearly from the third floor of the school building.

"What was that all about?" Ritsu asked with a chuckle.

A siren went off. Then another one. And another one. They all got up from the table and went to the window. There didn't appear to be anything particularly exciting going on outside aside from the four people running for their lives across the way.

"Maybe they're late for something." Yui observed.

"How would you stop a war?" Ritsu asked out of the blue.

"Make everyone eat at the same table?" Yui guessed.

Ritsu shrugged and they continued looking outside. Suddenly they spotted six flying creatures they had never seen before.

"Are those ladybugs?" Ritsu asked.

Whatever they were, they were about the size of a small dog. From where they watched, it was difficult to pick up any specifics, especially since their breath was fogging up the window. Someone stumbled onto the campus. A girl about their age.

"Hey, that's Kirino Kōsaka!" Mio exclaimed. "I heard she was sick today!"

"She's playing hookie! And they say I'm going to become a NEET. At least I have nearly perfect attendance" Yui said.

"No, look! She's running from one of those things!" Azusa stated.

Sure enough, one of the beasts was chasing her. The creature was clearly playing with her as it moved quite quickly through the air with minimal effort. When it had become tired of this game, it stung her right in the kidney. Kirino fell over and attempted to stand back up. They watched the monstrosity hover over her as she fumbled around on her hands and knees. Then her back exploded in a fountain of gore and giblets as two smaller ladybugs emerged from her back and joined the larger one in search of new prey.

That had failed to kill her immediately, but she definitely wasn't going to live for much longer.

Mio screamed. Yui covered both of her eyes for a moment before peaking through her fingers.

"Oh, hey. Twins." Ritsu observed morbidly, her eyes wide with fear.

"I think we should back away from the window. Right now." Tsumugi said.

Yui ran over to the light switch at the end of the room. Since it was so dark outside, they needed the illumination. She quickly turned it off and ran over to her Gibson Les Paul. Yui retrieved it from its stand and went over into the corner where Ton-chan was quietly swimming, oblivious to what was happening outside of his tank. Though he had already eaten, she quickly fed him again. Yui sat down on the floor and put her back up against the wall and held Giita tight, shaking furiously. The other girls huddled around her.

Ritsu crawled on her hands and knees toward the storage room and retrieved a very old radio from one of the shelves. She made her way back to the group and tried turning it on, but she didn't get anything. The batteries must have been dead. With a frustrated sigh, she went back into the storage room and retrieved an extra pack. The old batteries spilled out on the floor, rolling to what would be their new home for the next few months.

As Ritsu worked to put the batteries in, Azusa assessed the situation. It was alarming. Azusa barked a laugh at that understatement. If those creatures could breed that quickly, there was probably an entire colony of them out there by now or there would be by the time the JSDF finally mobilized. They were going to have quite a fight on their hands. Azusa remembered reading in the news about a month ago when she was bored that the JSDF had recently been allowed to upgrade its armory. This came at a good time since China was throwing hissy fits again.

She felt the burden on her shoulders lift slightly as she began to hope. If they got into real trouble, America might even come to their rescue. Their new president, George Sears, was a bit of a maverick. He had pretended to cater to the interests of the wealthy and the corporations while running for president, but once he had gotten elected he began showing his true colors. The policies he was proposing would probably get him assassinated before his first term was up. Azusa remembered reading that he had become a JET after serving as a distinguished U.S. Ranger for a number of years before he became interested in politics. If the JSDF could not handle this threat, he would probably find some way to send help without being delayed by the congress or the senate. Weren't they obligated to assist as some part of a treaty? Azusa couldn't recall offhand.

_So I shouldn't panic. Help is on the way. I should focus on staying alive. _Azusa said to herself.

Doubt returned. This was their fight until further notice. She couldn't depend on anyone but their army. Not even that. Right now, it was down to them. They needed to find weapons. With gun control as it was in Japan, Azusa would be better off arming herself with a katana. She would consider herself lucky if she found one in a shop that was actually built like they used to make them and not some cheap knock off meant to appease otaku's with a fetish for blades.

Would they be easy to kill? They didn't look very strong. Azusa would obviously stand more of a chance with a gun since she had only touched a real katana once when she was a little girl. That's what the JSDF and the police were for if they could adapt to the situation quickly and do what needed to be done. What if there was more than one kind? Cracks appeared in the dam that was her constitution as panic began seeping in. Azusa began regulating her breathing.

A truly dark thought occurred to her as she scanned the room for something to protect herself with. How were her parents going to make it through this? Were they already dead? What would Azusa do without them?

_Stop it! _Azusa told herself, biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes tight.

Azusa wished she could stop herself from shaking. At least she wasn't freaking out yet. Mio was almost completely incapacitated with fear and muttering to herself while she rocked back and forth with her hands pressed up against her mouth. Ritsu was still in a good degree of control. If she was worried, she was managing to hide it rather well. Tsumugi was busy providing support to Mio to keep herself calm as well. Yui was in her own little world, an alternate universe threatened by the invasion of a nasty outside force. Just like theirs, now that Azusa thought about it. She had to do a double take when she noticed that Yui was actually stroking the bridge of the instrument lovingly in an attempt to soothe Giita's nerves.

Ritsu finally popped the batteries in and turned on the radio. Place of Hope by Kurosaki Maon blared through the room at full volume, causing them to jump in surprise. Ritsu turned the volume all the way down and began thumbing through the channels. Above them, Ton-chan was looking down with concern at the edge of the tank. Sometimes Azusa wondered if that turtle was a lot smarter than it let on.

"If some places are still playing music, that means not everyone is aware of what's going on yet. At the very least, that tells us that this isn't a national emergency." Tsumugi commented.

"That is in no way reassuring. What's our local station?" Ritsu demanded.

"I can't remember." Tsumugi said.

"The jingle must not be all that catchy." Ritsu relented.

She eventually found what she was looking for.

". . .evacuate to the Chihara Station where the JSDF and local police will be standing by. This message will repeat. At approximately 16:10 today, police began receiving various reports of deadly unknown creatures in various areas throughout the city. They are considered extremely dangerous. All citizens are advised to evacuate to the to the Chihara Station where the JSDF and local police will be standing by. This message will be repeated."

"Evacuate?" Tsumugi said. "That must mean that they know it would be pointless to try and hide."

"Shouldn't they be telling people to remain inside instead?" Ritsu asked.

"It must be really bad." Tsumugi replied.

"Wonderful." Ritsu muttered. "Did the JSDF really mobilize this quickly?"

"There's a base not too far from here, but I agree. That's kind of suspicious. Maybe they know something we don't?" Tsumugi ventured.

"I really wish I knew."

"When was 16:10?" Yui asked.

"Fifth-teen minutes ago." Azusa clarified, looking at their clock.

"What do you suppose they'll do with us when we get there?" Yui asked.

"They'll probably get us out of the city." Ritsu replied.

Yui took out her cell phone. The other girls immediately thought of their families and did the exact same thing. Plenty of other people had the same idea because the network was busy.

"Let's let our parents know that we're okay and we'll be heading to the station." Ritsu said as she prepared a text.

"That's clear on the other side of town!" Mio shouted. "We would be better off if we stayed right where we are now. They're all outside, right? So we should remain inside."

"Do you know how easily one of them could get inside, Mio?" Ritsu demanded, unimpressed.

One of their windows shattered as something burst through it. A ladybug slammed into the tank containing Ton-chan above where the girls were huddled, spilling water everywhere and crushing a very surprised pig nosed turtle. They all screamed and backed away as the ladybug balanced itself on the table holding the shattered aquarium. It buzzed a couple of times as it balanced itself, its wings thick and ugly.

They got their first good look at one of these things. It was a sickly color, much like rot. The black spots were like huge welts against the outer shell. Its stinger was retractable. Ritsu noticed that the spots were moving and correctly deduced that these were the creatures eyes. There were no irises, only dark orbs. Its legs ended in barbed feet which were as sharp as the end of a knife. From what they were able to observe, it didn't appear to have a mouth. That is, it didn't appear to have a mouth until it pounced on the floor and used one of its legs to lance a wounded Ton-chan and stuck it into a hole lined with teeth at the tip of its underbelly.

The crunch it made as it bit through Ton-chan's shell was the most awful thing any of them would ever hear.

"No!" Yui screamed.

Mio fainted. Ritsu caught her as she fell and tried to wake her up since carrying her away from the scene would be extremely inconvenient. To add insult to injury, the ladybug didn't appear to like the taste of Ton-chan and proceeded to spit out his mangled body on the floor. Each leg made a perfunctory click that cut through the air like a knife as it turned to face the girls, the eyes on its back moving this way and that. The radio was still telling them to evacuate to the Chihara Station. At this point in time, that was the best idea in the entire world.

"Stay away, you murderer!" Yui yelled, still clutching Giita protectively.

Azusa grabbed Mio's bass and prepared to use it as a weapon if necessary. Tsumugi knocked Azusa's Mustang off of the stand it had been propped on as she backed get away from the creature. It clattered to the ground and produced a small groan. The reaction of the ladybug was immediate. It screeched horribly and took off at breakneck speed to the corner, slamming into it and denting the wall. By some inconceivable means, Yui was actually the first person who realized what had just happened.

"Oh, you didn't like that, huh?" Yui whimpered, still mourning over Ton-chan. "I bet you'll like this even less!"

She tore off the face mask she was wearing. Yui broke out in a perfect riff as her fingers danced across the guitar with the ease of an expert. The ladybug cried out again, seemingly in great agony and began to try and dig its way out of the room rather unsuccessfully. Yui plugged Giita into her amp and placed it right up against the creature. All of its eyes seemed to look at the black box in front of it at once.

"You stupid. . .stupid, stupid!" Yui roared, unable to find any other word.

The riff that followed, this one a lot higher than the previous tune she had belted out, was far too much for this odd creature to handle. Yui's impromptu solo drowned out the cries of protest. When she had finished, the ladybug had collapsed to the side. A thick putrid green fluid was pouring out of its eyes. By all accounts, it appeared to be very dead. Azusa grabbed a stand and prodded it for a moment, checking to make absolutely certain that it had indeed gone to turtle killer hell.

"Did it just have an aneurysm?" Tsumugi asked in complete disbelief.

"Ton-chan." came Yui's broken voice.

Their attention was turned off of the dead creature for a moment and put back on Yui, who had set Giita aside for a moment to cradle Ton-chan's mangled remains in two small hands. Then the cold came in. Their adrenaline had helped keep their mind on other matters as they fought to survive. Now they could hear screams everywhere. Even beneath them in their own school. Yui stood up and wandered over to where Ton-chan's tank had been, her feet stepping on some glass and breaking it.

She sat what was left of Ton-chan on the sand that was still on the table and continued to weep.

"This message will be repeated." the man on the radio said.

Azusa went over to the radio and switched it off. Ritsu continued trying to wake Mio up, slapping at her cheeks and holding her nose together.

"Mio. Mio!" Ritsu called. "Come on, this is getting ridiculous! I'm not going to carry your big butt all the way to the station and I can't leave you behind either!"

Tsumugi was examining the creature a little more thoroughly, trying to determine exactly what had killed it. She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Yui's awesome guitar skills, or perhaps lack thereof depending on who was evaluating her, might have been the cause. Yet it appeared to be the case. It obviously hadn't liked the sound of the Mustang when it had hit the floor and enjoyed music at a high volume even less. Its decibel tolerance was probably fairly low. Then again, there were sirens and screams outside, so that couldn't be it. Tsumugi looked at their instruments in shock. It had to be the way Yui had played. The sound from the guitar was what had bothered it. In the back of her mind, she heard everyone in the ZanziBar snickering at them again. Tsumugi lowered her head in shame and decided not to say anything unless she had to.

Azusa picked up her Mustang and checked to see if it had been damaged in the fall. Miraculously, there wasn't a visible scratch on it. At that moment Sawako came bursting through the door. Her hair was a mess, she was missing her heels, and her glasses were gone. Blood from another student had ruined her fine outfit that she had just bought last week. The screams from below wafted up like the cries of the damned. Sawako closed the door and moved the bench up against it. For a moment, there was a look of relief on her face until she realized her error.

"No. No, why did I come all the way up here?" Sawako asked, starting to panic now that she realized that she was trapped.

Sawako ran to one of the windows and looked outside, trying to judge just how many bones she would break if she jumped.

"Sensei, stay away from the windows!" Tsumugi yelled.

A ladybug burst through the one next to her, showering her face in glass. The ladybug continued on its course until it crashed into the sink. This one was smaller and covered in slime. It had probably just been born. Yui disconnected her guitar from her amp and ran straight to the enemy. She played another sweet riff. Yui seemed to have developed quite a few on her own. They were fragments of songs that would never be or would mesh together to create one somewhere down the line.

Without the aid of the amp, its brains failed to leak through its eyes. Instead, it was reduced to a crumbling heap unable to defend itself against Yui as it curled up into a bar and shuddered in the sink. Tsumugi turned the hot water on. Ritsu took a break from Mio and ran into the storage room where she located a red crowbar. Taking it, she joined Yui at the sink and rammed the weapon right through one of its eyes as far as it would go. She must have picked the right one because she hit the brain, killing it immediately. Goo shot out and covered her face. She squealed and dropped the crowbar to the ground where it clattered noisily.

Azusa's hypothesis that they might be easy to kill had just been upgraded to a fact.

**NEXT TIME : **Hi, I'm Yui Hirasawa. It feels weird to introduce myself by my first name, but I thought I would do so just to be polite because I know that most of you are Americans. Wasn't the scene where Ton-chan died really scary? I thought so. It's a good thing that this isn't canon or we would all be traumatized for life. What happens next? I'd love to tell you, but I'd rather not spoil it. You'll just have to be patient and wait until the next chapter. This is one Christmas present you can't open early!


	3. Exodus

**Chapter 3 : Exodus.**

Their fight wasn't over quite yet. There was a reason why Sawako had been running and that reason knocked down the door to the light music club as if it were made out of card stock. This new adversary stood ten feet tall on two legs and was covered in gray bristly quills, much like a hedgehog. Underneath the insulation, its skin was the same color as the ladybugs. Its two arms ended in seven claws that were dripping some type of fluid that Azusa suspected was venom. It lacked a head. Its face seemed to be a part of its trunk. Put simply, it was a beast. Azusa saw eight beady eyes looking right at her and an open mouth that seemed incapable of closing awaiting its next meal.

Even worse, the song she played had absolutely no effect on the monster. It lunged at her and if she had been a second too slow she wouldn't be making it to the end of this paragraph in one piece. Tsumugi threw one of the chairs from the tea table at it, knocking it back a few steps. Ritsu pulled Mio to the wall and hoped they would be able to pick up her slack since she wouldn't abandon Mio. Yui grabbed a music stand for defense and stood beside Ritsu. Tsumugi kept throwing everything she could at the creature while Azusa went for the rest of their instruments.

The only other instrument she could play was her father's saxophone and she was not very good at it. However, there had been a couple of times when the girls had taught each other how to use the instruments they played just for fun. She took off the Mustang and set it aside carefully, still valuing it as the poignant gift that it was. Azusa tried an extremely basic riff on Mio's bass and Chopsticks on Tsumugi's keyboard, both of which did not take any heat off of Tsumugi, who crawled under the table just in time to avoid being filleted. Azusa grabbed one of their bags and hurled it at the monster, trying to get its attention off of Tsumugi.

It worked. Apparently crawling under the table was too much of a hassle. Besides, this thing knew it had all day to kill them. Undeterred, Azusa got behind Ritsu's drums. The bristly thing was now practically right on top of her. All that stood between the hunter and its prey was a Yamaha Hipgig drumset.

If this didn't work. . .

Azusa screamed at the top of her lungs and let lose. Her inexperience didn't seem to matter. If any degree of skill was required, a novice would survive. The hairy creature reared back, offended by the noise, and began to spin around in a distorted circle. Azusa played even harder, not caring how it sounded. Green blood began pouring out of the open mouth, accompanied by a bubbly hiss. It fell to its knees and appeared to go into a seizure. Ritsu saw an opening and made her move.

"This is for Ton-chan!" was the only discernible statement that made it through her rage.

Ritsu gritted her teeth together until her jaw popped, pulled her arm all the way back, gripped the crowbar until her knuckles cracked and her fingers went white, and drove it right through the spine of the monster in a blow so absolutely devastating that she immediately crippled it.

That had been for a turtle. But not for Kirino, oddly enough. Nobody liked her. She was kind of a shrew and that was a conservative way of putting it.

As Azusa continued upsetting everyone in the room, not just the invader, Ritsu turned its back into Swiss cheese until it finally stopped moving. Each blow produced a sick _thuck _as she wailed on it relentlessly. This thing bled like a stuck pig. It was everywhere. Ritsu's school shoes were ruined, not to mention her outfit. Azusa quit trying to play the drums after Ritsu had stopped going completely psychotic on the beast.

They looked at each other for a moment, their breath starting to appear in a fine cloud of condensation. It was getting so cold in the room that Tsumugi could swear she saw steam rising from the blood of the recently deceased monster.

"That sounded horrible." Ritsu said hoarsely.

Azusa smiled and chuckled a little bit. The laughter was infectious. Ritsu tried to hold it in, but she broke out into a hysterical fit. So did the other girls, except for the adult, who was busy digging glass out of her face, but had caught on quite well to what had just happened in front of her.

"Did the music just stop that thing?" Sawako asked, her voice clearly begging for an affirmative answer.

"Yes, sensei!" Tsumugi said. "I can hardly believe it myself. It sounds impossible, but. . ."

Tsumugi trailed off, completely unable to provide any kind of explanation for it.

"Yui found out." Tsumugi stated, giving up.

"I'd say my crowbar stopped it." Ritsu said, tossing the crowbar into the air in a fancy arc and then catching it. "But music seems to help as well."

"Sawa-chan. . ." Yui called, her voice breaking again. "Ton-chan. . .he. . ."

Sawako looked over to where the tank had been. She embraced her student as Yui cried fresh tears, though not nearly as hard as before. Sawako thought briefly about mentioning that they could get another one and then decided that was highly inappropriate.

"We have to keep on going." Sawako said instead. "It's what Ton-chan would want."

"Why is this happening?" Yui asked, her face ruined.

"I don't know. We'll find out, though." Sawako assured her.

She saw Mio lying on the ground and her mouth went agape. Sawako stood up and ran over to Mio with Yui buried between her breasts.

"Oh, no! Mio. . ." Sawako lamented as Yui tried to pull herself out of Sawako's cleavage.

Ritsu grinned darkly.

"Alas, poor Mio! We knew her well! Just kidding, just kidding. It's okay. She's just out cold. Mio can't take this kind of stuff." Ritsu assured her.

"Then it isn't going to be any better when we try to get out of the school. It's a slaughterhouse down there!"

Yui gasped for air when she finally managed to break free of Sawako's grip.

"Sawa-chan, you smell like pomegranate." Yui observed dreamily, blushing slightly.

"We need to get to the PA room." Azusa said. "If we can play over the schools loudspeakers, we might be able to save some of the students!"

"I'm not so sure about that. We would only be wasting time. Trust me. You would be surprised at how quickly a high school can be evacuated, especially since most of the clubs have already gone home." Sawako said.

"In that case, the radio said that we need to get to the Chihara Station."

"Wait, what? They only set up one checkpoint?" Sawako asked, shocked.

"Maybe that's all they had time for." Tsumugi offered.

Or perhaps this whole situation was a lot worse than they thought. Yui's cell phone chirped when she suddenly received a text message. She retrieved it, almost dropping it when she tore it out of her pocket but managing to catch it before it fell to the floor. A message from three minutes ago from Ui had finally made it through the network.

_Gym. Hurt._

The cell phone began shaking violently as Yui suddenly became very concerned.

"What's wrong?" Ritsu asked.

"Ui is in trouble." Yui said.

She swallowed the knot in her throat and showed everyone the message, unable to keep her hands steady. Her bottom lip was trembling, threatening to break at any second to release the sobs she somehow managed to keep trapped inside her chest. Since tears were quiet, she had no problem letting more of those lose. Today was just not her day.

"I. . .it's my responsibility as the older sister to make sure she's okay. We were supposed to walk home together today. I'm going after her." Yui said.

Azusa could see it. Fear. Finally there was something that had truly gotten through to Yui. Her little sister was in danger. At that point Azusa was reminded of her own family. Would they flee to the station, or would they lock themselves in their house and hide somewhere together? It hadn't taken much for Ritsu to kill the hairy creature and her father was fairly strong. If they were all still alive, surely adults stood a far better chance.

"You're not going alone, Yui-senpai. I'll come with you." Azusa said, expecting karma to return the favor.

"We all will." Tsumugi said on behalf of everyone.

"There's a bit of a problem, though. They're not all weak against the same instruments and with the way you were butchering my drums its difficult to say what that sasquatch didn't like." Ritsu said.

"Now is your chance to find out!" Sawako said, pointing at the open door in front of them.

Another one of the hairy creatures stepped in. Tattered bits and pieces of their school outfit were around its mouth. Obviously it had just finished feeding on one of their classmates and had come to kill again. That lead Azusa to suspect that it could probably eat twice its weight in food if it wanted to. What a funny thought to have at a time like this.

Sadly, it was right next to the drum kit and Azusa was still sitting in the chair. Tsumugi reacted quickly and took one of the extremely expensive saucers from the China cabinet and hurled it at the creature. She struck it right in its grouping of eyes, which caused it to shield its face and back away. Her friends moved quickly.

"Catch!" Ritsu said, throwing the crowbar at Sawako.

The tool cluttered noisily to the ground in front of their teacher. Sawako scooped up the crowbar and stood defiant, her true nature breaking passed the charming exterior she struggled to maintain. Sawako unbuttoned her blouse and tore her skirt to give her hips some room as Ritsu took her seat behind the drums and began playing a solo. It didn't appear flustered at all until she used the cymbals. One of its eyeballs popped out and it immediately began vomiting up the former champion of the tennis team.

In an effort to make the sound go away, the sasquatch lashed out blindly and fell over the drum kit. Ritsu got out of the way and made off with the hi-hat. She still managed to keep a decent beat going even without her drums. Overcome with agony, their nemesis finally tapped out and beat its head against the ground. Too bad this wasn't a friendly game. Sawako moved in for the kill. She bludgeoned it to death and continued beating it so hard that everyone was certain she was still hitting it in the afterlife. That brought After School Tea Time's kill count up to four. Their adversaries had scored at least three so far.

"Sawa-chan, I think it's dead." Azusa said.

"Sensei, it's even more dead now." Tsumugi pointed out after a moment.

"You have pounded all of the continues straight out of that thing, Sawa-chan." Ritsu mentioned.

"I had a date tonight!" Sawako roared as she started to strike wood. "This could have been my chance! My Christmas cake is getting stale!"

"Everyone, please!" Yui shouted.

They all looked toward her.

"If you're going to help me find Ui, we need to do it now. I can feel her. She needs me! I can't wait any longer, I have to go to her now or I will be too late!"

The two weren't twins, but they did seem to share a rather close bond. Perhaps that was enough to kindle some ESP.

"Okay. We will find Yui, but _only_ because we know where she is and we know she needs help_._ After that, we need to get to the station. This is going to sound horrible, but it has to be said. It would be better for your parents if you tried to make your way to safety." Sawako stated.

Sawako was right. It was indeed a very terrible thing to say, but that didn't stop it from being the truth and they were already prepared to accept it.

"Once we get there, we might even be able to help." Tsumugi said brightly.

"Yes, that's exactly right." Sawako said.

"Yui-senpai did more damage when she had her guitar plugged into her amp." Azusa pointed out. "I don't suppose we'll be able to take it with us, will we?"

"Uhh, no." Ritsu said. "Where would you plug it in?"

"True." Azusa muttered, feeling a little foolish.

Ritsu nodded, crossed her arms, and stood up from her seat.

"Sawa-chan, carry Mio. Tsumugi, take the bass." Ritsu instructed.

While Tsumugi retrieved Mio's instrument and the case that went along with it, she gave her keyboard a quick pat.

"I'll be back for you later." Tsumugi said, blowing it a kiss.

Sawako found Mio unusually heavy as she used a fireman's carry to ferry her to safety. Ritsu approached Azusa and held out the crowbar, covered in the blood of the creatures it had helped slay.

"Looks like your hands are free for now. Time to bust some heads, Azunyan." Ritsu said with a wink.

Azusa didn't like Ritsu's grin. A part of her thought she couldn't do this, but now was not the time for self-doubt. She would do her best. Azusa took the crowbar and quickly put her own instrument away in its case and slung it over her shoulders in case they would need it later.

"Make sure you don't put your eye out." Ritsu said.

A very strong sense of déjà vu assaulted Azusa, but she couldn't explain why. She rubbed a sharp, brief pain out of both of her eyes.

"I think I'll be fine." Azusa said, smiling reassuringly.

"Before we go down there, I want to warn you one more time. It's not going to be pretty. I barely made it up here alive. However, if those things are so affected by music that they become completely defenseless, I think we can make it. Stick together and stay as a group." Sawako explained.

"And nobody left behind." Azusa added.

They all nodded affirmatively. Ritsu and Yui took the lead with Azusa in the middle. Tsumugi valiantly decided to position herself at the tail end of the entourage. She gathered five more saucers for good measure and was the last to leave the music room.

Azusa rubbed her hand across the turtle at the top of the stairs for good luck once again as they descended into hell.

Sawako hadn't managed to capture just how brutal the attack had been with her words. There were at least a dozen of them on this floor and they were all preoccupied with the students they had killed. All of them were ladybugs. The kills the ladybugs had made were particularly obvious since there was a big gaping hole where the offspring had burst out of. Ritsu rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining the babies maturing by the second, but they were indeed growing very fast. One of them took flight, decided that was far too much work, and collapsed to the ground with a thud. It began moving over to the corpse of a girl who had been trampled to death during the stampede to get out of the school.

"Keep going, they're not bothering us." Sawako whispered.

Azusa counted maybe twenty or so dead senpai's. Almost every window on this level had been smashed in. They went down the stairs to the first floor. Tsumugi watched their rear carefully, her neck nearly getting a whiplash from all the work it was doing as her head darted in every direction. The smell drifting up from the first floor was what hit them first. A bunch of eggs were all lined up in the stairwell. Some had already hatched. A little sasquatch the size of a Chihuahua was crawling out of a translucent shell. It's eyes opened and it felt so full of life right up until the point where Ritsu's foot ended it violently.

The sasquatch's were marking their territory with blood, covering the walls in bizarre warnings and cluttering up the hallway with desks and whatever else they could throw around to create disorder. Azusa's eye twitched as she realized that this behavior technically made them more intelligent than the ladybugs. They must have been social creatures. Furthermore, they were covering up the windows with a thick mucus that they secreted from their mouths. A new trick! Azusa couldn't say she was impressed and she wondered how much they would like it when they found out that the second floor had already been claimed.

Mio suddenly began to stir on Sawako's back. Sawako took one look at the condition the hall was in and knew this was no time for Mio to be waking up. She rocked back and forth on her feet, trying to soothe Mio back into her dead faint.

"Mio, everything is fine." Sawako whispered. "Don't open your eyes."

"Why not?" Mio asked as her eyes opened.

Sawako braced herself for the scream. When it came, it just about woke the dead. Mio had quite a voice in her. They knew they were in trouble. Azusa watched as one of the sasquatch poked its head out of the classroom it was in comically to investigate the noise. Ritsu wasted no time and immediately began playing. Those creatures closest to her immediately backed away as if she were the embodiment of the plague.

"That's right." Ritsu said in satisfaction, grinning from ear to ear as her body moved with the beat she was making.

One of them jumped out of a window to get away from the sound. In came two ladybugs, slamming into the wall and tumbling to the ground. The first hit the wall so hard that it didn't get up again, but the second languidly rose to its feet. Yui readied her guitar. However, the ladybug didn't seem to want them. It went straight for a sasquatch, using its stinger to impregnate it. Mere seconds later, another ladybug popped out of its torso in an explosion so violent the sasquatch was actually cut in half. The top half went sailing through the air for a minute before landing on the ground. Not a good way to go.

"Look out!" Tsumugi warned.

A sasquatch was still coming for them in the midst of its hemorrhage. This one looked different from the others and had a spot at the top of its trunk cut away to signify its position within the clan. It leapt at Ritsu a little too early, its timing thrown off by the pain. Ritsu easily dodged what would have otherwise been her doom and even managed to trip the creature, sending it face first into the floor. She kicked it as hard as she could in the ribs and immediately regretted it since the school shoes weren't that hard. She dropped her drum sticks and pulled her wounded foot up to her stomach, hopping around on her remaining foot as she groaned in pain.

Ritsu felt like the biggest idiot in the world. What she had done was careless and that would get her killed. With as easy as surviving this onslaught seemed to be, she would never forgive herself if she died because she did something foolish. Azusa raised the crowbar and hesitated for a moment before she scored her first kill. She was the second person to discover that there was a soft spot near the top of the back that popped open easily with just a few strikes and let them see exactly what the creature was thinking. Evolution would eventually get around to addressing how obvious this weak point was and provide the species with a means of defense, but that wouldn't happen for another millennium.

This was not her style. Azusa would rather have a gun or at the very least a bow and arrow. On the other hand, Sawako and Ritsu seemed to enjoy getting up close and personal. And covered in stinky blood. She almost asked to carry Mio, who was squirming around on Sawako's back. Sawako held her steady. Eventually Mio would become desensitized to everything around her and then she would be useful. For now, she screamed at everything and would probably die the second her feet touched the ground. Sawako could hardly believe her luck when she saw a roll of duct tape on the ground. With one hand and her teeth, she tore a strip lose and slapped it on Mio's face, all without dropping her.

"Problem solved." Sawako said triumphantly. "Let's stop by the nurses office. Ui might need medical attention."

"We're so far from the station." Yui whimpered. "I hope she only sprained her ankle. She did that once when I ran from her while we were playing. I didn't mean for her to get hurt."

"It's okay. As fate would have it, I actually took a first-aid class in college as an elective. If it's something minor, I can fix it." Sawako said.

"Who was the boy?" Ritsu asked.

"You're out of line, Tainaka-san." Sawako said dangerously. "I'll have you know it looked really good on my résumé when I was in the process of becoming a teacher!"

"I bet it did." Ritsu said, batting her eyes at Sawako.

"I also know first-aid! And CPR! Don't worry, Yui. We will take care of Ui!" Tsumugi interjected to diffuse the situation, raising a hand to include herself.

They headed for the nurses office. Azusa began to notice bodies of people that were not part of their school. The adults must have been out hunting and brought back what they caught. She wondered if they were intending to hibernate and decided that was silly. They came across a couple of young sasquatch's sparring with each other. There was no way around them and they stopped fighting and looked up at their new audience curiously. Even at such a young age their claws were dripping with that mysterious fluid. Azusa kicked one across the room with enough force to score a sixty five yard field goal in adverse winds during a downpour while Ritsu crushed its friend to death with her hi-top. Both squealed for help, but it did not come. The adults at the other end of the hall were not bothered. After all, there were a ton of eggs waiting to hatch and a window to seal where a bunch of ladybugs had suddenly congregated.

The nurses office had been thoroughly trashed. Disorder seemed to be a thing with the sasquatch. However, there was a distinctive red pack sticking out of the mess that Sawako pulled free. Rarely could one be so happy to see a red cross. They now had a very nice first-aid kit in their possession. Once through the side door leading directly to the gym, they were hit with the cold. Adrenaline made it more bearable, but it didn't help that the wind had picked up and a light mist was starting to form in the streets as the clouds held off the helpful light of the sun.

Chaos drifted from the city to their location. Sirens, screams, and a few gunshots followed them as they made their way toward the gym. It was starting to snow lightly. Azusa could smell a fire burning somewhere. They went through the front door and discovered that the gym was now ladybug territory. The volleyball club hadn't made it. Not all the lights were on. Azusa looked up and saw a bunch of ladybugs crawling around on the ceiling. They were busting the fluorescent lights, but they weren't being very proactive about it.

Seven of them detached from the rafters and attacked. Yui knew it was time to shine and played another wicked guitar solo. Their ability to fly was impaired by the music and three of them dropped out of the sky and gave up immediately. Those on the ceiling began crawling away in haste, trying to get as far from the noise as possible. Two ladybugs actually started attacking each other in a show of twisted compassion, both trying to kill the other to end their misery. Legs, wings, eyes, and blood went flying everywhere as they tumbled to the gym floor. One flew at Tsumugi with its stinger forward. She dodged well before the ladybug was an actual threat and it didn't even bother trying to correct itself as it went sailing forward with no intended target. It went crashing through the door they had just entered in from and got itself stuck in the ground.

Azusa sidestepped the final one sailing haphazardly towards her with the stinger poised to impregnate her and caught it with the hooked end of the lengthy crowbar while it was still in the air. She pulled it down to the ground brutally, being careful of its sharp feet as she put one foot down on the stinger and tore the crowbar free with a sick crunch that dislodged a few legs and tore a good chunk out of its body. That was all this one took. Without having to be told, she walked outside to where the other one was. In the process of freeing itself, it had pulled its stinger out of its body. The ladybug appeared to be dying as it crawled slowly away and made a tiny squealing noise. Azusa closed the door to the gym and left it out in the cold where it could freeze to death for all she cared.

Yui stopped playing and opened her mouth to call for Ui, causing everyone to tense and start waving their hands erratically to get her to stop. Thankfully, Yui caught herself. There was no telling what she might call to their attention. Yui went straight for the storage room, drawn to it by her ESP. Inside, it was completely dark.

"Ui?" Yui called softly.

**NEXT TIME :** Hey, Azunyan speaking. I'm the central character again, but don't worry, this time I get to keep both of my eyes. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Please join us again next time. I think we're going to take out a ladybug hive. That should be exciting. If you can't wait, give Waltz a read and remember what Yui-senpai said about canon. Later!


	4. Thicket

**Chapter 4 : Thicket.**

"Onee-chan. . ." Ui replied.

Ritsu found the light switch and turned it on. There, in the corner, hiding underneath a tarp, was Ui. She looked extremely pale and incredibly tired. Yui set down her guitar carefully and gave Ui a great big hug. Ui cried out briefly and held the rest of her scream back. Yui broke out of the embrace immediately and felt something sticky on her hands. She brought them into view. Blood.

Yui looked like she was about ready to go into shock. Sawako set Mio down up against a wall and ran to Ui's side with the first aid kit ready. Tsumugi was comforting Yui, so Azusa made sure to watch the door while Mio drew her knees up against her face and trembled.

"What happened?" Sawako asked.

"I'm not really sure. They just appeared out of nowhere while I was with Jun and Ruiko."

"Saten Ruiko? The transfer student?" Azusa asked.

Ui nodded. Ruiko was in Ui's class and they had quickly become friends. She could apparently play the acoustic guitar rather well. Ruiko had met with the other girls a couple of times. Her warm personality made her very easy to befriend. They hadn't hung out very much yet since she had only come to the school two months ago, but they were all expecting her to eventually become a regular addition to their group of friends and perhaps even the sixth member of their band.

"We lost track of Jun in the confusion. I don't know what happened to her. While I was running with Ruiko, we were attacked. I tried to help, but. . ."

It was obvious that Ruiko didn't make it. Ui could not bring herself to say the words, but the look on her face did not betray Ruiko's fate.

"I ran to the gym to try and warn everyone, but I was too late. That's when I got hurt. The thing that hit me was attacked by one of the bugs, which is probably the only reason I'm still alive. In the confusion, I slipped in here. Like a coward."

"No, Ui! You are not a coward! You are very brave!" Yui said.

"I'm not, onee-chan. Please don't praise me."

"You just have to get used to it! It's scary at first, just like a roller coaster! But then you find that it isn't so bad just so long as you don't yank the harness loose!"

Ritsu and Sawako exchanged a look.

"Onee-chan, I wanted so badly to come to you, but I couldn't. I thought that maybe I could get help really quickly and possibly find a baseball bat and then come save you if you were in danger, but I was wrong. I didn't think everything was so bad, but it is. I really would have come for you if I hadn't gotten hurt because now I. . .I think. . .I think I'm. . ."

Dying? Poisoned? Tickled pink? Azusa couldn't tell what Ui was trying to say. Yui didn't seem to care.

"That's okay! I'm here now and that's all that matters. I would have come to save you if I knew you were in danger no matter what, Ui!" Yui said.

"Thank you."

Ui noticed that they were carrying their instruments and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Why do you have Giita?" Ui asked.

"Ui, they don't like music!" Yui was sounding quite energetic. "They can't stand it! We can get you a guitar or a portable organ and you can help us drive these things right back to where they came from! You just have to make sure that. . ."

At this rate Yui was going to cry more than Mio. For once. She had to have a bigger heart than anyone else full of more love than they thought. Her face was positively raw both from the chill and all her tears.

"You just have to make sure that you stay awake, okay?" Yui said in a way that broke Azusa's heart.

Ui nodded. Sawako knelt down beside Ui.

"I'm going to take care of your wound and get you bandaged up. After that, we're heading to the Chihara station." Sawako said.

Another nod from Ui. Sawako dove into the medical pack, assessing what was available. It had been stuffed to capacity with everything she needed and more. Sawako considered having Ritsu distract Yui from her sisters condition so she could work properly, but she couldn't exactly tell them both to go outside and shoot some hoops. The wound was obviously on Ui's back and to get to it she had to disrobe all the way down to her bare back since her bra had been destroyed during the attack.

Azusa was thankful neither Sawako or Tsumugi gasped when they saw what they were going to be working with. Inflamed, still bleeding, bordering on an infection, deep, and from her left shoulder down to the middle of her back. The strange fluid the sasquatch's secreted was hanging around the spaces between each groove. Yui was horrified. She gently took her sisters hand in her own and looked off to the side, desperately trying to find her happy place and be there for Ui at the same time.

Sawako took a rubber bit and tore it out of its plastic wrapping. Leaning over Ui, she inserted the bit into her mouth. Tsumugi gave Ui a couple of towels to scream into. Before she began the arduous task of cleaning the wound, she wondered just how potent the poison inside Ui was. She wasn't looking too good and there was no telling if a cure was available for whatever might be killing her. All they could do now was slow the progress of infection and hope for the best. Yui neglected to mention that Ui had a very low tolerance to pain, which became obvious rather quickly. Ritsu and Tsumugi were forced to hold her down.

The peroxide flushed out a little sliver that looked like a strip of flesh at first until they saw it moving. With a set of forceps, Sawako picked it up and brought it closer to her face to see it. Her vision was positively horrible without her glasses. An insect resembling a tick with an abdomen full of blood greeted her. Sawako dry heaved, unable to help it. It must have been living on the sasquatch before it had taken up residence inside Ui's back. She flushed out four of them along with little yellow granules the size of pills Sawako knew were larvae. Sawako was extra careful about making sure no parasites were left behind.

Ui was squeezing Yui's hand so hard that Yui thought she might break it, which was okay. Yui knew this needed to be done and held her sisters hand even tighter as Sawako continued to treat Ui. It took fifteen minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Sawako didn't want to mention this would need to be done again in a couple of hours. Ui was even weaker than before when they were finished with her. There was some adrenaline in the bag, but Sawako believed it would help the poison. As she applied bandages, Azusa looked down at Mio for a moment. She hadn't even taken the tape off of her own mouth.

Azusa crouched down and removed it for her, taking a strand of hair that had gotten in the way with the piece of tape. Mio didn't even bother resisting. Even through all of this, she still admired her senpai. To see her in this condition was terrible.

"I'm sorry." Mio said so quietly that Azusa could barely hear her. "I'm so scared right now I can't stand it."

"It's okay." Azusa replied sincerely with a warm smile. "It's just like Yui-senpai said. It's a roller coaster."

"I don't go on roller coasters." Mio pointed out.

"Well, then it's like performing on the stage. You're scared at first, but it goes away."

"This is different. We won't die if the audience doesn't like us."

"Nobody is going to die." Azusa said. "We're going to look out for each other and make it through this."

"That's right." Yui affirmed. "Just like sisters. From this point forth, let's all be sisters. I know we weren't born in the same family, but I don't think that should matter if you are really close."

Azusa thought of her mother and father again. Where were they? The Chihara station was quite far from their home. She wondered if this request was born out of Yui's concern for Ui. Had she lost faith in her sisters condition? That couldn't possibly be it. Yui would not give up on her little sister. What came from Yui's mind could only be understood from Yui herself and since she was incapable of being a bad person, Azusa knew that for whatever reason Yui had made this suggestion it had to be pure. She decided to go along with it.

"I will be your sister, Yui-senpai." Azusa said.

"Count me in." Ritsu stated.

"I'm the eldest. How ironic." Sawako said.

"Even Sawa-chan?" Yui asked, her eyes bright with her usual brand of energy again, to which Sawako nodded.

"Fine by me." Tsumugi stated.

Mio remained silent.

"Don't pretend. You all hate me now." Mio said. "All I can do is scream. I'm not strong like any of you."

"You know that's not true. We know they're weak against music. You can play bass. While we haven't run into one yet that requires bass, we will certainly need you if we do. We wouldn't stand a chance otherwise. But we don't need you just because of that. We need you because you're an important part of the band and you're our friend."

Ritsu smiled and nodded. Azusa's little speech was pretty good. A little sappy, but that was okay, it had its intended effect. Mio took her face from her knees and looked up at Azusa for the first time, her face streaked with her tears. She then looked over at everyone sitting around Ui.

"None of you are angry?" Mio asked.

They all shook their heads. Azusa offered her hand to Mio, who took it and was lifted off of the floor. Tsumugi grabbed Mio's bass and presented it to her. Mio swung it over her shoulder and looked a lot more confident than before.

"Yui, I will also be your sister." Mio said. "I guess that makes us one big family now."

"Yeah, just like the Dango family!" Yui said.

"Does that mean we have to start using honorifics?" Tsumugi asked.

"Yeah, that would sound just a little weird. Let's not change the way we address one another just yet." Yui admitted. "What's important is that we're all in this together and I think that's really important!"

"You said important twice." Ritsu said.

"That makes it very important, Ricchan!" Yui said.

Ui laughed weakly at that, shaking her head. Sawako went back to Ui again for a moment with a new hunch. She took a thermometer out of the bag and placed it in Ui's ear. The reading appeared immediately. Thirty eight degrees Celsius. Ui was burning up. Sawako checked her pulse and saw it was still strong. She might be jumping to conclusions, but it looked like a simple fever. Well, perhaps not entirely simple because at that temperature she was probably going to start seeing the Dango family, but it wasn't something which threatened her life unless it went up by one more digit.

The venom might have just been there to incapacitate the prey, making it easier for the sasquatch to kill. She kept this to herself in case she was wrong. With Sawako done, Yui helped dress Ui in her ruined school uniform.

"Isn't this funny, Ui?" Yui asked. "Remember when you used to help dress me?"

"I do." Ui said, smiling sweetly. "Sensei, am I going to be all right?"

The two sisters looked to her as if she held the keys to life and death. Ui was watching her very careful to detect if she was going to lie to her.

"Yes." Sawako affirmed, leaving no room for doubt.

Ui didn't look entirely convinced at first, but eventually she yielded and Sawako realized just how much trust had been placed in her. She felt stick to her stomach.

"I'm glad."

That didn't make it any better. Sawako heard her teeth crack as she clenched her jaw.

"You still need to see a doctor, though." Sawako stated.

There, that took some of the blame off of her should Ui die. If she should live, the guilt Sawako felt at that moment would never come back to haunt her. Before they could talk more about Ui's condition, Sawako changed the subject.

"When we go outside, try to stay in the middle of our formation." she instructed.

"Okay." Ui said.

"Let's stop by that street full of shops before we head to the station since it's on the way there. I can't remember what it's called, but it's the closest one that has a music store. Do you girls know which one I'm talking about?" Sawako said.

More bobbing heads. Her own adorable collection of them, in fact.

"I saw a Korg RK – 100 there the other day!" Tsumugi exclaimed.

"Exactly. They also sell flutes." Sawako said. "I'll take one of those. After that, we will all be armed."

"You play the flute?" Ritsu asked, stifling a laugh.

"Of course. Why else would I help the wind instrument club?"

"Okay, but for now would you take Giita?" Yui asked as she handed over her instrument. "I want to protect Ui."

"Oh, no I. . ."

Yui thrust Giita into Sawako's hands and she immediately melted with a small moan as she felt the weight of the guitar descend on her. The power of the Gibson infected her. With this, she could conquer the world, so long as that world was full of bloated flying insults to humanity with nasty knife legs and terrible retractable stingers. It didn't take long for a murderous look to appear on her face. Azusa hid the crowbar behind her back.

"Very well, as you wish." Sawako said, her tone now menacing.

"What if there's more of them out there than we have instruments for?" Mio asked, nervous as usual.

"The JSDF can worry about that. We just need to focus on getting to them." Ritsu said.

"Before we leave this room, let's see if we can find some more weapons." Tsumugi said.

The girls began searching. Tsumugi felt that the javelins used by the track and field club would be absolutely worthless because they weren't sturdy enough. Ritsu opened up a metal cabinet and found a bunch of baseball supplies, including a canister full of old bats.

"Lucky!" Ritsu declared as she took a bat.

Ritsu swung it, an audible whoosh cutting through the air as she did so. It was still good. There were a couple of nicks on the bat and it was made of wood, but it still looked rather sturdy. After a minute of searching, they couldn't come up with anything better. Tsumugi, Mio, and Yui each took a baseball bat. Azusa looked at the large crowbar she still held for a moment and decided to abandon it here in favor of a bat.

"Azunyan gets the metal one." Ritsu said, handing it to her.

Armed and equipped better than they were before, the students turned to their teacher. Her bangs covered her face as she breathed heavily with the guitar held ready.

"Time for the encore." Sawako muttered.

Yui stuck as close to Ui as possible as the group formed a disjointed circle around the two sisters. They went back into the gym. A rather disturbing surprise awaited them. The ceiling was crawling with ladybugs. There had been so few before, but now the number had tripled and it had only taken twenty minutes. It looked like they might be forming a colony here, just like the other kind had in their school. Most of them were newborns. The team easily spotted a very large pink ladybug rooting around in the crowd, randomly killing some of the members of the clan that she didn't particularly like. None of them retaliated as the drones were picked off at random.

This had to be a queen. Azusa didn't want to think about how many people had died to spawn these many ladybugs since that severally hindered the possibility that her parents were still alive.

"If only I had an amp." Sawako said darkly, her fingers itching to play.

"Sawa-chan, please don't get us all killed." Ritsu requested.

The queen chirped the second it spotted the humans on the ground. All the ladybugs began chirping. A dozen of them descended, heading right for the small group. This was it. Playtime was over. They braced themselves for the attack.

"I've been waiting for you to come. DIE!" Sawako screamed.

Azusa wondered how long she had been waiting for a chance to say that again. Sawako's taste in music was remarkably different from After School Tea Time. While she would keep their music in her library and give most of the songs three stars out of five, she'd skip them every once in a while in favor of anything metal. Her brutal riff had its intended effect. The ladybugs slowed down and became sluggish, their combat efficiency greatly reduced by the indescribable agony they were in. Ritsu couldn't believe her eyes when one of them stabbed itself through the mouth with its own stinger. It exploded and a new one popped out of the mess. For some odd reason, Azusa was reminded of reincarnation.

As expected, a couple of the more resilient insects got a little too close for comfort. By then they were about as dangerous as toothless zombies. Tsumugi batted her first kill right out of the park, slamming it into another one that was severally wounded by the force of the impact. Mio held her bat close to her body and mainly spent her time dodging anything that came close to her. Sawako's fingers were relentless, pushing the Les Paul to its limit and unintentionally intimidating Yui in the process, who thought for sure a string was going to break with as fast and hard as Sawako was playing. Ritsu cracked her bat against the shell of a ladybug that was so affected by the music that it was spiraling into the fray.

"One!" Ritsu declared, counting off her kills.

She caught another one.

"Two!"

Ritsu had to dodge again, but it was nothing. Her exhilaration was about to become a euphoria.

"Three!"

"This isn't a game!" Mio said.

Ritsu stuck her tongue out at Mio. The one that got too close to Ui was hit so hard by Yui that it cracked the gym floor. Still twitching, Yui swung the bat like a golf club and knocked the creature out of the little defensive circle they had formed. More of them were coming. Ritsu was up to six confirmed kills, but her good luck wouldn't last forever if she had to fight half of the hive. If they took out the queen, that might even the odds providing that these things depended on her like bees or ants. Azusa spotted a volleyball on the floor and looked up to where the odd pink one was. She only had one shot, so she had to make it count. Azusa lined the ball up to the best of her ability and tossed it in the air. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The bat hit the volleyball with an audible pop and sailed on a course straight for the queen.

It struck, knocking her off balance and sending her to the floor. Out came Azusa's Mustang in a series of fluid motions that could never be repeated. Ritsu followed her as Azusa power walked her way over to the queen. A single guitar was bad enough. Two had an even greater effect. Whereas before there were still some that managed to get past the barrier of sound most collapsed in a crumbled heap when they approached, two made them scatter like a natural disaster was occurring.

The queen cried out for help as it tried to get away, but nobody came to her aid. Ritsu and Azusa took turns beating it until it started looking a lot like watergate salad. As they did so, a large number of the ladybugs on the ceiling began falling to their deaths. One fell on top of Tsumugi and almost knocked her out. Those who remained were paralyzed by the loss of their queen. They would likely pop out another one within the next hour, but for now they were extremely disoriented. Ritsu and Azusa gave each other a hearty high five.

"I think that deserves some credits." Tsumugi said as she pulled a note out of her pocket that they had been passing around in class earlier.

"At a time like this?" Azusa exclaimed.

"Come on, it only takes a couple of seconds!" Ritsu urged, already warming up for the act.

Azusa rolled her eyes and smiled warmly. Tsumugi stood in the middle as Azusa and Ritsu gave each other another high five and froze in the ridiculous position they were in. Tsumugi slowly began raising the sheet of paper held in both of her hands.

"Don't you. . .forget about me." Ritsu and Azusa sang together on-key in their best English.

Yui laughed and clapped in approval.

"You kids are weird." Sawako said, her darker half still present.

She punctuated it with another short riff. A convulsing ladybug still mourning the loss of its queen used its legs to pull its own stinger from its body, committing suicide.

"Is this what you do after school, onee-chan?" Ui asked.

Yui chuckled and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"We're creative people. We can't help it." Yui explained.

"Hey, Mio." Ritsu said. "Try to kill at least one of them before we get to the JSDF, okay?"

She had not meant to say it cruelly. Mio held her bat even closer to her body and looked away in shame. Ritsu shrugged and started for the entrance to the gym they had come out of. Outside, the mist had grown a bit thicker, but their visibility was still acceptable. The city beckoned their arrival with a song of chaos. Whatever awaited them as they left the school was surely worse than what they had encountered so far, but they were more than prepared to face this threat together.

**NEXT TIME :** Kotobuki Tsumugi reporting. With all the yuri pairings that are published weekly concerning us, isn't it refreshing to read something new for a change? Not that there's anything wrong with pairings. Original characters are a real treat, too. All of them are so perfect we can't help but fall madly in love with them. Love is such a popular subject on this website. I can't say I blame any author who is fascinated with romance. It's not very fun to be lonely. Oh, the preview? What, I'm out of time? Oh, no!


	5. Requiem

**Chapter 5 : Requiem.**

With Sawako at the lead, they left their high school behind. The streets were empty except for the occasional body. Some had been mutilated beyond recognition while others had clearly been temporary homes for the ladybugs, which were wandering around aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do now that they were no longer part of a hive mind. One of them was even viciously attacking a car, trying desperately to reproduce to no avail since cars were not organic. The girls stuck close to the buildings, moving in an efficient line, never venturing too far out into the open.

Azusa felt they were being followed by something. It sent a chill up her spine. Each time she would chance a glance back the way they had come she saw nothing. The mist didn't help. It was just thick enough that their stalker could hide in it. She believed it was just her nerves and didn't say anything. One block they passed was being ravaged by the fire Azusa had sensed earlier.

And then she saw it wander out into the street.

A cat.

A cat that was on fire.

And the _sound_ it made.

Azusa realized that this was the cat.

This was the cat that sounded better than them.

The other girls noticed this as well. All of the energy and pride they had gotten from killing the creatures suddenly drained from them as they considered what was in front of them. The cat keeled over on its side, dead, and began to burn down to its bones.

"Do you think our music hurts them because it's so bad?" Yui asked anyone willing to answer.

"No way! I bet it's our talent. Not everyone can play as well as we can." Ritsu said confidently.

"But Asuka. . ." Mio began.

"Is but one voice in a sea of millions, Mio-chan." Ritsu said.

"I hope you're right." Yui said.

"I am right!" Ritsu affirmed.

Their confidence renewed to some extent thanks to their club president, they continued onward. They managed to avoid bumping into any other creatures along the way to their destination. Perhaps they were busy chasing other people. Maybe they were indeed going to hibernate. The girls made it to the music store without another incident. No other looters were in the area. The door wasn't locked and they walked right in.

A song was playing over the hidden speakers, but it couldn't possibly be a part of the radio. By now, the rest of Japan and perhaps the whole world would have caught wind of the situation. Twitter was probably full of tweets from people who were running for their lives. 2Chan would be demanding pics as evidence of this or they would refuse to believe it, probably until one of the sasquatch's knocked down their door and killed them while they were still leveling up their paladin to fight the Lich King.

Tsumugi knew where her keytar was and fetched it immediately, giving the instrument a try by playing the opening of Für Elise by Beethoven. Some ding bat had been playing with it earlier and had set the device to sound like a synthesizer. Beethoven may have been deaf and dead, but he knew when his song was being butchered and consequently spun in his grave. With a satisfied nod, Tsumugi went to go fetch a case for her new keytar and four packages of fresh batteries.

An island was in the middle of the store that displayed some of the more expensive instruments that Azusa quietly admired.

"Can we take a little break?" Ui requested. "Maybe five minutes or so?"

"Yes, we can!" Yui said before any objections could be raised.

Ui and Yui took a seat towards the back of the store as everyone else looked around. Ritsu salivated over another Yamaha Hipgig drum kit. The colors were black instead of yellow and it was brand new. If only there were some way she could take it with her. Ritsu stepped behind the kit where a comfy chair had already been provided. Knowing better than to call attention to their position, she simply pretended to play.

"Isn't there a clothing store like two shops down?" Ritsu asked, to which Tsumugi nodded. "Yeah, we should hit that one too. I am freezing my kneecaps off."

"First we have to let Ui rest a little bit." Yui pointed out.

"Fine, we can get some new clothes. This outfit is starting to annoy me. There's no telling how much time we have left before the JSDF pulls out, so don't get picky." Sawako said as she looked at her watch. "Ui, your five minutes begin now."

"I will gladly wear guy clothes right now." Ritsu said. "A heavy sweater, a nice hoodie, and a pair of good jeans would be so much better than this flimsy uniform we have to wear."

"If we hadn't been in such a hurry we could have grabbed our coats." Tsumugi lamented.

Sawako stepped over to the guitar cases. Sweat started beading on her forehead. Her heart began chugging as it tried to keep up with how fast it was beating. Her fingers curled into gnarled knots at odd angles thanks to her being double jointed. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. The Gibson burned her flesh as she grabbed it. With a heave of exertion, she managed to pull it off of herself. It felt like she was ripping her soul out of her chest. Sawako gave a huge sigh of relief as she felt her stage persona leave her body in a sudden rush that left her dizzy. She stuffed the Les Paul into the new case since Yui had left hers in the clubroom. Sawako went over to where Yui and Ui were resting. Ui had her head on Yui's shoulder and was breathing levelly.

"Keep your eyes open, Ui." Yui said helpfully, playing with Ui's nose.

"Of course, onee-chan."

"Thanks for letting me borrow this." Sawako said.

Yui nodded with a smile and took Giita back. Sawako found a Yamaha YFL-784 locked inside a protective case that was easily shattered by her elbow. This particular model sold for about five thousand dollars, just like the drums Ritsu was about ready to marry. Sawako wondered how they intended to sell such expensive items. Nevertheless, she was thankful. This was one of the greatest flutes she could ever hope to play and now it belonged to her. When Sawako picked up the instrument, Ritsu immediately stopped playing and stood bolt upright where she was, knocking over the chair she had been sitting on.

"I have got to see this." Ritsu said, making her way around the drums.

Sawako put the flute up against her lips and played a beautiful rendition of Dance of the Flutes off of the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. Ritsu was awestruck.

"Amazing." Ritsu said, completely shocked. "Maybe even unbelievable. You weren't kidding!"

"Why would I lie?" Sawako asked.

"Well, it's just that a flute so isn't you." Ritsu said.

"I'd hit you if we were anywhere else. I happen to love the flute! Besides, if you hadn't seen those embarrassing pictures of me when I was back in high school, you would be none the wiser."

Ritsu gave another cunning smile.

"Think about it for a moment, though. If we hadn't found that album, you might not be our adviser."

"True. I wonder where I would be right now." Sawako said, looking down at the flute in her hands.

"Certainly not on the first line of defense." Ritsu exclaimed.

Azusa located the small stereo that had been playing music over the speakers in the backroom. To get it, she had to see something she would rather forget. At least the device wasn't covered in blood and had escaped destruction. Azusa stopped for a moment and thought about that. Music must have been playing when the shopkeeper met his rather gory end, which did not look like the work of a ladybug or a sasquatch. Whatever had got him hadn't freaked out when it had heard music. Perhaps they were only affected when the music was live.

It made sense. The music on a CD was compressed. Only those with highly sensitive ears could tell the difference. During that compression, the music must have lost its effect. Interesting. She flicked a switch and tuned in the radio to their local station.

". . .JSDF is ready to assist in the evacuation of citizens at the Chihara Station, the Watanabe Station, and the Minamiyono Station."

The voice was different this time, suggesting that an update had occurred. All those locations were on the south side of town and fairly close to each other. The JSDF hadn't managed to cover much ground and they were moving in a line. Her home was to the east. Mio and Ritsu were in luck, though. Satoshi, Ritsu's little brother, was more than likely home at the time of the attack since he wasn't a member of any club. The Tainaka family could have just walked right down the street to safety. No wonder she wasn't worried. Azusa was a little jealous.

"Do not engage any of these things. They are extremely fast and incredibly deadly. Reports suggest they have an acute sense of hearing. It has been noted that while they have eyes, they are more prone to attacking based on sound. More information will be given as it becomes available. This is the third revision of this message, which will now repeat until further notice."

Azusa turned off the radio.

"I need to use the restroom." Ui said.

Yui helped Ui to her feet and she started gagging. She quickly ushered her sister over to the bathroom where she proceeded to expel the poison ravishing her body. Sawako stole a glance from the hallway and didn't see anything red in the soup Ui was making. She hoped this was a good sign. The five minutes they had given her had expired, but this couldn't wait. Mio was near the entrance of the store, looking rather lonely and eternally afraid. She heard the door open and jumped away in fright.

Ruiko had entered, looking rather worse for wear, carrying a bloody hammer. This had to be who Azusa sensed had been following them earlier. Azusa could hardly believe her eyes and felt her heart leap for joy at the sight of a friendly face until she remembered what Ui had said earlier. Mio was unable to restrain herself and immediately hugged Ruiko.

"Ruiko! I'm so glad you're safe!" Mio exclaimed.

Azusa watched as Ruiko's hands rose and simply hung suspended in the air. It was as if she had forgotten how to return this particular gesture. Azusa couldn't say she liked that. Ui and Yui stumbled out of the bathroom together.

"Ui, look! Ruiko is alive!" Yui declared, pointing at her.

Her reaction was one of complete disbelief. For a moment, Azusa could see how Ruiko had met her end just by the look in Ui's eyes. It must have been horrible.

"That's not possible." Ui said.

"Mio, get away from Ruiko." Sawako ordered.

It was then Mio remembered what she had heard earlier as well. Only then did she see the dead stare in Ruiko's eyes and the mortal wound hidden beneath her tattered uniform. Mio turned white as a sheet and began backing away from Ruiko, who followed her every step of the way. Ritsu tried the hi-hat to no effect and Sawako attempted to use her flute. Nothing. Tsumugi tried the keyboard. The thing posing as Ruiko twisted and turned its head, but did not appear the least bit bothered by any of them. Annoyed, certainly, but not to the point where it would curl up into a ball and cry itself to sleep.

When the music had an effect, it was interesting to use. Now that it did not, they all felt rather foolish for giving it a try. Only Mio's bass remained and she did not appear to be in any condition to use it. Ritsu took her bat and rushed over to Mio's aid. She stood in front of Mio and slammed Ruiko hard in the chest with the head of the bat, pushing her back. Ritsu rose it to strike, but found she could not. Ruiko had been a good acquaintance of hers and though she knew this thing was no longer Ruiko, she couldn't bring herself to destroy the image of her friend unless it attacked her first because that would shatter all doubt that any remnant of Ruiko was still left.

"Mio, play your bass." Sawako instructed calmly.

"I. . .I. . ." Mio stuttered, starting to cry.

"Mio. Play your bass. Now." Sawako said.

While Mio worked to get it out of her case, Ruiko turned abruptly and launched the hammer at Azusa. She dodged it by a fraction of an inch, feeling it scrape across her cheek and strike the wall behind her head with a resounding clang that put her ear in a new type of pain. Ruiko moved in while Ritsu was distracted, taking advantage of her hesitation. She punched Ritsu in the face hard enough to knock her teeth loose and took the bat from her when her grip loosened on the weapon. Apparently what had control of her was a bit more capable than it had been letting on.

Mio stood with her bass ready and played the first riff she had ever learned. Nothing happened. Her worst fear had come true. Sawako fetched a Gibson Flying V from the rack of guitars and went around the island display in the middle of the store that currently separated her from Ruiko, who immediately noticed the threat and turned to face it with her bat held ready in front of her. Sawako hesitated for a moment and then attacked, swinging the Flying V. It was a wasted effort. Ruiko countered it with the bat she held and broke the instrument in half, making Sawako look like a complete idiot.

She surged forward and slammed her head against Sawako's skull with a resounding crack that made their teacher stumble backward. Ruiko kept pushing her until she had Sawako right where she wanted her. She grabbed Sawako by her hair with both hands and launched her at the drum set Ritsu had been admiring, destroying it. Sawako didn't get back up. She then moved in on Ritsu and seized her by the throat. Ruiko slammed her down on the counter Azusa was hiding behind and proceeded to strangle the drummer. Ritsu opened her mouth wide in an attempt to breath and made a frightening noise she would have otherwise been incapable of producing.

Ruiko opened her own mouth. Slime and a mysterious white fluid dripped out of it, splattering on Ritsu's face. Ritsu instantly closed her mouth when she saw this, feeling her face turn purple and her consciousness fade. Ruiko kept her mouth open as something in the back of her throat began working audibly. Azusa stood up with her bat ready. Ruiko noticed and threw Ritsu aside carelessly while Mio simply stood by and watched. Azusa swung at what had once been one of her friends. Ruiko's palm came forward. Azusa's aim was thrown off by her instinctive reaction to jerk her head back. Ruiko struck Azusa square in the mouth, smashing her front teeth against her lips and drawing blood. The incoming blow was deflected properly and Ruiko grabbed one of Azusa's twin tails and pulled down hard. Azusa's head bounced off the counter as she fell to the ground right at Mio's feet, rendered unconscious. The thing posing as Ruiko went back to Ritsu and sat on top of her before she could recover.

Ruiko punched Ritsu in the face a couple of times to get her to hold still, giving Ritsu a black eye and a nasty mark on her cheek in addition to the very fashionable purple welts decorating her throat like a necklace of pain. Tsumugi was going through every instrument she could find frantically, even the type she didn't know how to play. It made the scene even more bizarre. Yui gave Ui a quick kiss on the cheek and stood with her bat ready. Ruiko looked over and saw that a new threat had appeared. She slammed her fist into the center of Ritsu's broad forehead, bouncing her skull off of the ground with a sick thud. The force of the blow knocked her headband lose. Satisfied, Ruiko stood to face Yui.

Ritsu scrambled away, but she was so close to passing out that all she could do was fumble on the floor, blind save for the bright red glow at the center of her vision. There was no time to dodge, so Ruiko let herself get cracked in the ribs, which did nothing. Ruiko punched Yui across the face so hard that she immediately lost her footing and fell to the floor. A stranger to fighting, Yui had almost been knocked out cold and could do nothing now but recover from the blow. Ui crawled over to her and threw herself on top of Yui, but Ruiko had already chosen who she wanted.

Ruiko caught Ritsu easily and forced her back to the floor, straddling her in the same way she had earlier. She once again yawned and this time something dropped out of her mouth onto Ritsu's stomach. At first, Ritsu thought Ruiko had just threw up a dandelion. Then the thing began moving in the clear fluid surrounding it. This creature was strangely beautiful, like something that lived in the darkest depths of the ocean. It had hundreds of little sharp legs attached to a central body the same structure as a dragon fly and eight tiny black eyes all bunched together in a small circle. Ruiko held Ritsu's arms down, finally giving her a chance to breath. The jellyfish centipede dragon fly flower thing stood up and Ritsu felt her belly tingle.

Those ticklish sensations soon turned into red hot agony and she screamed in pain. It was shocking her. That had to help it take control of corpses. This creature was obviously a parasite and too weak to hunt food on its own. It likely fed after it had killed with the body it controlled. It began making its way up to her face, no longer mysteriously attractive. The legs were just long enough to allow it to wrap itself around a brain or the top of the spinal cord, which Ritsu knew was what it would try to do to her.

Ritsu continued thrashing, her strong desire to live giving her an infinite amount of energy. She was unable to escape. The sharp legs ensured it didn't go flying when she struggled. Mio was petrified. Her childhood friend was in great danger and Mio was still paralyzed by fear. Yet she had to do something. If she didn't Ritsu was going to die rather terribly. Shaking uncontrollably, Mio set her bass down and reached inside one of the side pockets of her case to fetch a pack of spare strings. Tearing into it, she wrapped them around her hand, improvising a garrote. For a moment, she couldn't move. All she could do was listen to Ritsu scream.

_Do something, you miserable coward! Do something now or she's going to die! _her mind screamed. _Do you want her to die?_

No.

It was all up to Mio. With a yell, she launched herself at Ruiko and wrapped the string around her throat, strangling her. Ruiko reared upright and bucked, trying to throw Mio off of her. She held on tight, feeling the strings begin to cut into her hands as she held them against Ruiko's throat. The struggle they had was quite fierce and it didn't seem like this was working very well. At the very least, it allowed Ritsu a chance to recover. She tore the thing off of her chin and smashed it with her fist.

POP!

A bolt of electricity strong enough to knock her back went into her and her entire arm clear up to her shoulder seared in excruciating agony. Had she been stung? Five years ago, Ritsu had broken her leg in four places. She didn't like to talk about it and aside from her family, Mio was the only one who knew she had rods in her left leg. Up until now, that was the most pain she had ever known. This easily hurt much worse. It felt like someone had actually torn her arm off at the joint, but at least she had killed her adversary. With that finished, she spit up a tasty mixture of snot and blood. Ritsu stuck a finger inside her mouth and felt both rows of her teeth, happy to find that none were missing. Dazed and confused, Ritsu propped herself up on the island and began looking around the store while Mio was thrown up against the guitar rack.

Tsumugi was standing right next to a small kiosk displaying a bunch of harmonicas. With an exasperated groan and a point of her finger, she indicated that she wanted one. Tsumugi grabbed a red harmonica and slid it over to Ritsu, who fetched it off of the island and fell down on the ground again. After a couple more breaths, she was ready to give it a try. Ritsu always believed that the harmonica was a depressing instrument. She didn't take it very seriously, but it had brought her out of her darker moods on more than one occasion so she had decided to stick with it.

Ruiko stopped struggling the second she detected the blues. Mio heard a rather unique noise coming from the inside of Ruiko's skull. The jellyfish wrapped around her brain escaped in a manner that none of them were unlucky enough to observe. Ruiko collapsed on top of Mio now that her body was no longer being manipulated. The creature crawled across the floor to the source of the sound. Before it could get there and drive itself through Ritsu's throat in an attempt to get to her brain, it had been overtaken by the harmonica and began writhing on the ground like a worm on a hook.

Little bits of electricity popped in the air like fireworks as it lost control of its body. Mio turned it into plumber's putty with her bat, beating it over and over again until there was nothing left but singed carpet. Once she was sure it was dead, Ritsu stopped playing and remained on the ground where she was while Mio crawled into the nearest corner and wept out the rest of her adrenaline. An eerie silence gripped the store for a moment as everyone took a moment to rest. Ritsu crawled over to where her hair band was, retrieved it, put it back on, and sat up against the island.

Yui was slowly coming around and Ui gave her a huge hug that she gently returned.

"See, you are brave." Yui said, still a little dazed.

Ui cried silently into her sisters shoulder, immensely thankful that Yui was still alive and worried about her own condition since she was starting to feel a lot worse.

"You know what would be funny?" Ritsu asked anyone willing to answer, trying to lighten the mood.

"What's that?" Tsumugi asked.

"We get out of here. We go a couple of blocks. We round a corner. There's this high school girl holding off twenty of these things with the most horrifying instrument of them all."

"A didgeridoo?"

"Not quite."

Ritsu chuckled at her own joke before she could deliver the weak punch line.

"The bassoon." Ritsu said in a dramatic voice. "It's funny because if not for the trouble I had with where to place my fingers and my argument with my parents that I had better things to do at the time than learn how to play a silly instrument like my mother, that girl could have been me."

The image of Ritsu playing a bassoon was too much for Tsumugi to handle and she blushed furiously. Ritsu stuffed the harmonica in one of her pockets and stood up slowly. Tsumugi went to check on Sawako while Yui ran over to Azusa once Ui had been pacified. Mio was hiding her face in her knees again. Ritsu sat down next to her and gave her a warm hug.

"Thanks." Ritsu whispered in Mio's ear.

Mio returned the gesture with a vise grip.

"You really made your one kill count." Ritsu said with a brilliant smile.

**NEXT TIME :** This is **Some1Else **andI'm taking a short break from my method acting before I accidentally induce multiple personality disorder on myself and go buy a Yamaha drum kit and a basket full of Bath and Body Works. No worries, Mio will be up next week. In the meantime, it would appear that the girls finally meet up with the JSDF in the next chapter.


	6. Rise

**Chapter 6 : Rise.**

While Ritsu and Mio held each other, Yui carefully turned Azusa's head to take a look at the huge gash she had received when her head had been slammed up against the edge of the counter. Her hair was a beautiful mess of black and red. Yui believed the wound might require stitches, which would mean they would need to shave the hair around it. She suppressed a small snicker when she thought of how goofy Azusa was going to look with a section of her hair cut away.

"Azunyan, wake up." Yui requested, gently shaking Azusa in an attempt to rouse her.

Azusa stirred in a daze. Seeing Yui sitting next to her with a smile on her face, she assumed that the battle had been won.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Yui asked.

"Two." Azusa replied.

"I've always wanted to ask that. What's your name?"

"Nakano Azusa."

Yui gasped and shook her head. A look of great concern appeared on her face.

"No, your name is Azunya. . .oh, yeah. Your name _is _Nakano Azusa."

"Yui-senpai. . ." was all Azusa could say, clearly disappointed.

Tsumugi checked Sawako for injuries and didn't find any. She managed to rouse her teacher, who awoke with a start. Tsumugi let her scurry away and put the flute up against her mouth so fast she jabbed it up her nose on the first try. Sawako quickly realized they were safe. For now.

"What killed it?" Sawako asked.

"The blues." Ritsu declared, still holding Mio. "Ironic? I don't think so."

"Ritsu!" Sawako said, holding a hand up to her mouth. "Your face!"

"Uh-oh. Does it look bad?" Ritsu asked.

"Yes! Is your nose broken?"

"Nope. Thankfully."

"Good. Is everyone else okay?"

"More or less." Azusa said, her head feeling like it was about to split open.

"Let's skip getting new clothes." Sawako instructed, assuming command once more. "We need to get help as soon as possible. That one was way too close."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Azusa, they said over the radio that the JSDF is waiting at the Minamiyono Station, right?" Sawako asked.

Her student nodded helpfully.

"Okay, that's right across the way. We're going there. Everyone gather your stuff and let's get out of here."

"What about Ruiko?" Tsumugi asked. "We can't just leave her here like this."

The entire band gathered around Ruiko, who they had all come to know quite well in passing. Sawako flipped her body over and put Ruiko's hands on her chest. Ui looked completely devastated and no matter how hard Yui hugged her without hurting her back she couldn't squeeze out the guilt with her sisterly love.

"What happened, exactly?" Sawako asked.

"She told me to run. She told me to try and find Yui. So I did." Ui replied, not yet ready to tell the full story. "Her scream was so terrible."

"Well. . ." Sawako said, trailing off. "She wanted you to live."

"Yeah." Ritsu piped in, nodding in agreement. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Sawako thought to add that Ruiko would always be with them and then remembered that each girl had their own ambivalent opinion about what happened after death. Doing so might make the situation even worse.

"Ui, you should not be sad. You should be thankful. You thought that much of me. You should know what Ruiko felt. Ruiko thought enough of you to give you her own life so you could get away and live. We will never forget Ruiko because I will see what she has given me each time I look at you and you will see what Ruiko has given you each time you look at me." Yui said.

That was one way of putting it. Yui had never been so philosophical in her entire life, but they all understood what she was trying to get across.

"Onee-chan, you're right." Ui said.

Ui reached out and closed Ruiko's eyes.

"Goodbye, Ruiko."

"Maybe we'll see you again someday." Yui said.

Tsumugi reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief that she used to cover Ruiko's face with. It was the least they could do. Sawako let them mourn for another two minutes before she stood back up.

"We have to leave." Sawako announced.

Their departure was reluctant, but they eventually found themselves back out in the cold and in the same formation they were before. Sawako took them all down the road less traveled, led purely by an invisible sixth sense she didn't entirely trust but had no way of ignoring. They passed houses and apartment complexes, all of them empty. Windows had been broken and doors had been kicked in. It was a discouraging sight. Apparently hiding and waiting for the whole thing to blow over was not an option.

Occasionally they heard new sounds in different directions. Screams, odd groans from creatures right around the corner they managed to avoid, and the occasional burst of gunfire worked together to create a symphony of despair. Azusa was hoping that her head would stop bleeding because it felt disgusting. Three attack helicopters flew passed them to the east. They were Apache Longbows and Ritsu was the only person who recognized them.

Two Chinook's followed. One probably had a bunch of soldiers while the other would be used to evacuate citizens. To the east. Where were they going? Toro Park, probably. Azusa's house was in that area. Ritsu gawked in surprise and looked over to Azusa, who was looking rather hopeful and watching the helicopters as they headed toward their destination. As far as Ritsu knew, their families were now accounted for. Tsumugi's parents were near the Chihara Station and Yui's were out on another vacation, but they were supposed to get home sometime today.

They encountered a couple of stray groups running for their lives and found themselves rather unsuccessful at hailing them. Nobody cared to approach a bunch of high school girls carrying instruments and they weren't happy when Yui claimed to have the solution to this problem, so they decided it would be best to keep to themselves as well. Ui began to lag behind and stumbled sluggishly until she finally collapsed, skinning her knees.

"I can't go any farther. My legs aren't working." Ui said.

"That's okay, I'll carry you." Yui said.

Ui crawled on Yui's back and Yui used the handle on her case to carry Gitah. She wasn't able to use the bat any longer. Azusa knew that Yui was putting all her emotions into Ui and if Ui just so happened to die, Yui would literally fall apart. Sawako was looking rather ill. She had to have been thinking the same thing. Azusa stepped in closer to Yui to provide cover if they were attacked and they kept moving forward.

"Onee-chan, I love you so much." Ui said, sounding distant.

"I love you too, Ui." Yui replied.

Azusa couldn't say she liked that exchange. Ui needed to hold on. They were almost there. Four blocks later they began to hear gunfire coming from the station. Sawako estimated where the sounds were coming from and lead the group around them so they wouldn't walk headlong into stray bullets. A dozen sasquatches appeared out of nowhere to their right and began running full speed toward where the rifles were firing. Everyone screeched to a halt and ducked inside the yard of an individual who had left the gate to his home open, trying to evade them. Their little encounter with the dandelion jellyfish parasite had really hurt their confidence and they were no longer going to rush into battle if they could avoid it.

"We're being flanked!" came a woman's voice.

Bullets began flying down the street the sasquatches had just come down. Sawako waited until they had stopped shooting to take her chance.

"Don't shoot! We need help!"

"Hurry up and come out!" a man demanded.

Sawako turned to the group.

"Stay here."

She stepped in to what had just been the line of fire and began running forward. There were more than a few bodies littering the street that lead to the station and all of them belonged to their current enemies. In the distance she could barely see a parking lot full of armored moving vehicles and a swarm of people dressed in body armor. Beyond them, civilians were piling into the train which had just pulled into the station that would take them out of the city. It was total pandemonium on the platform and the soldiers could barely keep everyone under control. Barriers had been set up all around the station to provide cover. The narrow streets were crammed with activity. Urban warfare was certainly much more challenging in Japan.

Ahead of them, five trucks arrived in the parking lot and began dumping off survivors. Sawako rushed towards their saviors who were dressed in a camouflage pattern that matched the street. From out of the crowd of soldiers stepped a woman with her helmet off. She had short black hair and looked like this wasn't the worst thing she'd ever been through. Unbeknownst to Sawako, a sasquatch stepped out from an alley it had darted in once it's comrades had been mowed down and ran after her. The woman raised her black SCAR-H, a detail only Ritsu would appreciate, and put six bullets into the face of the sasquatch that had tried attacking Sawako with the ease of an expert. Sawako screamed and dropped to the ground to take cover.

The woman helped her back on her feet.

"Looks like you picked the best path to us. The next train arrives in fifth-teen minutes. You're going to Saitama. When you get there, you will receive further instructions." the woman said.

"Hold on, there's more of us over there!" Sawako requested.

She pointed down the road she had just come.

"Why are you carrying a flute?" one of the other soldiers asked.

"It is a very long story." Sawako replied.

Sawako heard her students screaming in surprise from across the way. She heard Ritsu's hi-hat go off. Sawako rushed back to assist them without requesting to be followed.

"Batou! Ishikawa! Saito! Follow me!" the woman ordered.

A taller man wearing a pair of odd goggles, a gentlemen with a beard, and another man with a bad scar on his left eye followed the woman. Around the corner were another pack of sasquatches being held at bay by Ritsu. One was rolling around on the floor while another slammed its head up against the side of a building. Another was on its belly desperately reaching towards Ritsu so hard that its arms were trembling, unable to do anything else.

The four soldiers could hardly believe what they were seeing. Six creatures paralyzed by the noise a very disheveled high school student was making with one minor piece of a drum kit. They had been having so much trouble with these things and here were a bunch of girls who weren't even eighteen yet and their teacher who had survived the entire thing without a gun. One finally gathered up enough resolve to cough up the phlegm they had seen them using on the windows earlier.

Ritsu stopped playing for a fraction of a second, fairly concerned that the thick fluid on her would start to burn and eat through her skin. When it did not, she went right back to playing.

"What are you waiting for?" Mio demanded. "Shoot them!"

The dumbfounded soldiers opened fire, destroying the enemies in front of them, making them dance like puppets as hollow point bullets cut through them leaving massive exit wounds. Azusa found herself thinking of a boxed lunch when she looked at the massacre. Her stomach growled. Once the smoke had cleared and the shell casings had stopped landing softly on the pavement, the students and their teacher bolted for the train station while the soldiers scratched their heads in confusion. The woman was the first to snap into action, bringing the men she had summoned with her.

"Is this why you're carrying a flute?" the woman asked.

"Yes, although it hasn't done anything quite yet." Sawako admitted.

"How many different types of these things have you seen?" Azusa asked the soldiers.

"Seven." the man with the scar replied.

"What?" Ritsu yelled. "Seven? We've only had to deal with three!"

"Lucky you." the man with the goggles muttered.

"I take it not all instruments will work on the same creature." the woman ventured.

"Totally correct!" Ritsu replied.

They passed the blockade and made their way into the station where a bunch of people were standing on the platform waiting for the next train to arrive. This was the first crowd they had come across since leaving the school. Azusa looked around. There were plenty of soldiers, police, and members of the local SWAT unit trying to keep everyone a safe distance away from the track. The public phones had a massive line.

Most of them hadn't had an encounter quite yet, but that didn't stop them from being nervous. If the entire city was being evacuated, that was a great reason to panic. They got odd looks as they pushed through the crowd with their instruments ready. One otaku had a suitcase stuffed to capacity with items he could not possibly leave behind. Others carried laptops and a variety of effects. This was stupid. Azusa knew that someone was going to ask them to leave their belongings behind so they could fit as much people as possible on the train.

Yet she knew that they were not going to be passengers. Judging by the reaction the soldiers had to their little performance, it was a good idea to get some rest while they could and keep quiet until they were inevitably approached. Azusa's head felt like she had gotten drunk for the first time, spent the whole night studying for an exam, failed said exam, tripped down a flight of stairs, read a fan fic that was so bad it compounded the head ache threatening to split her skull open straight down the middle, and stumbled face first into the old CRT television her parents had in their storage room. She imagined Ui wasn't doing any better. Azusa sat down and touched her wound lightly, coming back with all her fingers coated in fresh blood. She wiped them on her uniform, which was pretty trashed and drenched in sweat anyway.

Yui began poking around for a doctor, but nobody seemed interested in her. When they saw that Ui had been wounded by one of the creatures, they backed away. This didn't dissuade her in the least as she continued her quest. Mio began buying water for everyone at a vending machine while Tsumugi followed her example and grabbed some snacks. Azusa sat down on a bench. The woman from the JSDF was still looking at them with a hand on her chin in thought. Azusa looked right back at her and averted her gaze when she failed to get the woman to do the same thing. She knew what was going to happen and she wasn't sure if she was ready for it or not. Fear and indecision were the worst possible combination. For now, Azusa tried to relax.

Ritsu sat next to Azusa and gave her a hug. It was then that Azusa noticed the smell and realized with a great deal of horror that she probably smelled like the curry her parents had forgotten about in the back of the refrigerator as well.

"We made it!" Ritsu exclaimed. "Can you believe it, we made it!"

Tears were welling up in her eyes as all the adrenaline that had been keeping her going reached its peak. Azusa smiled at this and returned the gesture, hoping everyone near and dear to all of them had somehow made it, too. For now, there was this moment between the drummer and the guitarist. Azusa really loved her friends sometimes. It was a shame that Ruiko wouldn't be joining them. Mio and Tsumugi began passing supplies to those within their group. Azusa took a bottle of water and downed almost half of it in one gulp. Her throat was rather parched. She looked out into the crowd for their high school uniform to see if there was anyone she knew among them, but could not find another student from their school. Azusa went back to watching the woman.

The mysterious commander turned to speak in a low whisper to one of her subordinates, a man with a rather scruffy beard. She pointed right at Yui and it was as if the ocean had parted with Yui in the middle. The man with the beard nodded and went to Yui with his assault rifle holstered. A couple more orders were exchanged with the remaining men. Once they went to fulfill these, the woman pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and walked off. Tsumugi thought about following her, but decided against it.

"Hey, are you a doctor?" Yui asked a rather old looking man who fit the description perfectly.

The man shook his head.

"I'm a field medic." came a voice behind her.

Yui spun around with a gasp and face the soldier who towered over her.

"Is that like a doctor?" Yui asked nervously, backing away from the man.

He nodded and tried to smile as genuinely as he could to win Yui's trust, but it wasn't working.

"My name is Ishikawa." he said, introducing himself.

"I'm Yui. This is my sister, Ui."

"Your parents must be clever people." Ishikawa said, allowing himself to grin. "What happened to your sister?"

"She fell." Yui said, starting to shake in fear.  
"Come on, now. You can't possibly expect me to believe that."

Yui didn't answer.

"Why are you so scared?"

"You're not going to take Ui away from me!" Yui shouted. "I won't let you!"

Azusa sprang from her seat and rushed to Yui's aid. Ritsu followed, dragging her hi-hat with her. Sawako stopped trying gather information from other people since she wasn't having much luck anyway and joined the barricade. Soon Ishikawa had a whole cluster to weed through and Yui was behind them, clutching the legs Ui had wrapped around her tightly, not willing to let go.

"I'm sorry, but what are you doing?" Azusa asked, standing at the front of the group.

"She got hit by a commando, didn't she?" Ishikawa asked.

"A what?"

"The hairy one's with the large arms."

"Oh, a sasquatch!" Ritsu said.

"Sure, kid. If she's poisoned, we need to treat her now. We've got some medical supplies with us and I'd like to take a quick look at her." Ishikawa explained.

"No! The military takes people away to experiment on them." Yui said. "Ui isn't turning into one of those things. She's just really hurt."

"You watch too many bad movies." Ishikawa said. "I only want to help."

"We'll all go, then." Sawako stated. "Together. Is that okay?"

Ishikawa shrugged and nodded, effectively conveying indifference. Yui looked hesitant, but seemed to understand that there was safety in numbers.

"Okay. So long as it's all right with Ui. Ui, do you want to go?"

No answer. Azusa felt her stomach sink beneath her navel.

"Ui?" Yui asked, giving Ui a shake.

Her sisters arms, which had been locked around her neck, came loose and fell uselessly to her side. The grip Ui had around Yui loosened and she began slipping. Mio caught Ui before she could fall right off her sisters back. Tsumugi helped Mio lay the deathly pale Ui on the floor. All it took was one look at Ui to see why people had been shying away from her. Yui didn't want to see it. She simply hid her eyes and trembled quietly. Ishikawa grabbed Ui's hand and checked her wrist for a pulse. Ui was barely alive.

"There's something on the tracks!" a man screamed.

They all turned just in time to see a gray blob leap from the tracks and attack the person closest to it. The victim died immediately, stripped down to his bones, which collapsed in a heap a moment later. The sound it made when it did this would come back to haunt them each time they sipped broth from a bowl of ramen. This thing apparently didn't like the taste of clothes, so they were regurgitated in the slime trail the blob made when it moved. Digestion was nearly instantaneous and was also excreted in the gunk the thing made along its path of debauchery. It was translucent and they could see the black orbs that they knew were eyes floating among several organs that were not chained to any particular location and moved freely within its body as the monstrosity slithered. It killed two more people in the time it would take Mio to snap her fingers twice and would likely annihilate half the train platform in under five minutes if Tsumugi hadn't been there. For some reason, she knew this was her time to shine.

She already knew that the keytar had been set to synth by some eighties fanatic who had played with it earlier. That decided what she was going to play. Axel F came through perfectly. Yui gagged. Azusa's face went pale and she almost fainted. Mio grimaced in disgust. Ritsu groaned and grabbed her own ears, trying to shield herself against the horrible song. Tsumugi scoffed at their reactions and continued playing. Spikes appeared in the blob's flesh that matched each note perfectly like an oscilloscope. It turned white and curled in on itself. The soldiers attempted to shoot it, but nothing happened. It absorbed the bullets. Tsumugi kept playing while the blob writhed on the floor.

Three other creatures came crawling out of the tracks. These monsters had six legs that extended a great distance from their small bodies like some goofy looking spider. One jumped so it was towering over a random woman, bobbed down, and tore her coat off with its teeth. Azusa could hardly believe her eyes when she recognized the girl who was being attacked. This was the woman with the glorious brown hair from the bar the other night who didn't get their lyrics. She still had an orange ribbon tied up in it. The woman held her hands up to defend herself and rolled around on the ground as the creature kept lunging at her, missing each time. On a whim, Azusa took out her Mustang and began to match the song Tsumugi was playing as best she could. To her surprise, the goofy spiders didn't like that very much. It didn't take long for her to get into tune, taking a part of the song and making it her own, matching Tsumugi perfectly.

Mio added bass, inspired by the reaction Azusa's guitar had. Ritsu reluctantly joined in with her hi-hat and a metal trash can she fetched from the corner just as Tsumugi reached the end of her loop. When they started again, they had a close approximation of the actual song. Some of the people on the platform began clapping in tune with the beat, but that didn't help. A huge puddle of slime escaped from the blob until it was completely dry and began cracking until it no longer moved. The soldiers cut down the long legged spiders when the shock of what was happening finally subsided.

When it was all over, the woman they had just saved rubbed her eyes and blinked twice when she checked to see who their saviors were. She shook her head in disbelief. Confused as to how she should proceed, she could only clap her hands together in applause for the performance that had saved her life. The rest of the crowd soon joined her, completely bewildered.

"That was super effective. With all of us playing, we killed both of them. Yui-senpai killed one instantly with an amp earlier. If we played an entire song together with our music amplified, I wonder what would happen." Azusa said to herself.

"Good idea. Save it for later. Follow me." Ishikawa said as he picked up Ui.

**NEXT TIME :** This is Akiyama Mio, as promised. I don't really know what to say about the next chapter. I think we get to see what happens to Ui and we are asked to assist the JSDF, which we were planning on doing anyway. We also find out what started this whole mess. It's a chapter mostly full of intrigue. I like those the best. They're relaxing, but they always set you up for the next big punch the author is going to throw at you. Oh, I almost forgot. Please don't say you are lazy! Remember to leave a review right here or at the end of the story itself.

**RICCHAN'S ****SUPER BIG BONUS!**** :** Hey, friends! What's up? I think it would be pretty cool to have you guys and gals get to choose which of us does the preview next time! Be sure to vote on the poll we've had **Some1Else** set up! **Some1Else **will find a way to work it out if there's a tie. The poll will be blind so nobody will feel intimidated when they pick the girl they love the most! Get to it, you've only got three days!


	7. Source

**Chapter 7 : Source.**

There was a portion of the station that had been squared off to treat wounded soldiers and civilians. None of them could say they were pleased that Yui had not been told this when she had asked for help. They were more than a little concerned when they walked passed this section, but nobody said anything. It didn't look like a good place to be. Tucked away behind all the other military and police vehicles were a set of three AMV's that didn't look different from the several they had passed, but for some reason a chill went down their spines as they entered into this area. Ritsu was the only girl out of the group who knew that they were Patria's, commonly known as Wolverine's. This bothered her slightly and made her feel like a gun otaku. She couldn't stop herself from finding this kind of stuff interesting.

An ambulance was right next to the Wolverine's. Ishikawa popped open the back of the ambulance and pulled out the stretcher. Sawako and Tsumugi surged forward, ready to assist. Both were familiar with this process as a part of their training. Ishikawa dialed a number on his phone as he entered one of the AMV's and pressed his headset closer into his ear.

"Edward, have you finished your analysis of the commando's venom?" Ishikawa asked.

"Sir, yes, sir!" came an enthusiastic reply none of them could hear. "The venom is a potent neurotoxin that would make a rattlesnake quiver in fear. Paralysis occurs within minutes. Death soon follows."

He was glad nobody could hear Edward but him.

"Let's say that the victim is still alive. Which formula should I use? Number three?"

Ishikawa took a sealed container out from its hiding spot and opened it. A bunch of needles only marked with numbers glistened up at him.

"Signs point to yes!"

He took a needle marked with the number three and checked Ui's pulse again. For a second, he thought she was dead. This would not work if Ui had already passed away. Then he detected the faint beat emitting from her cold skin. Without hesitating, Ishikawa injected the fluid right into her jugular vein, which made everyone jump. An agonizing minute that felt like an eternity went by with no change. Ishikawa was about to try some more conventional methods when Ui took a very deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her eyelids fluttered open for a moment and her mouth worked to talk, but she remained silent.

Yui rushed to Ui's side and took her hand in her own.

"Ui?" Yui called.

Her sister rolled her head to the side and looked up at Ui lazily.

"Onee-chan, where am I?" Ui whispered.

"We're safe. We made it to the station, Ui. You're being treated by a field medic. Don't worry, it's like a doctor!"

"Did he give me a shot?"

Yui nodded.

"I think it's working. I don't know why, but I feel much better now, so you shouldn't worry any more, onee-chan. Is it safe to sleep now?"

She nodded and smiled. Ui smiled back and closed her eyes to rest. Yui checked Ui's wrist and felt a steady pulse that didn't cease after Ui had passed out. Yui's bottom lip quivered and she collapsed to her knees in immense relief, still holding her sisters hand, which she held up against her cheek. Ishikawa didn't let it show, but he was touched. What would have killed anyone else in a minute or so had failed to snuff the will to live out of this girl. It was quite impressive.

"What was that?" Sawako asked.

"What was what?" Ishikawa countered.

"What do you mean? That shot you just gave her. What was in it?" Ritsu asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. She was like that when we got here."

"That's a lie!" Mio said. "What type of medicine did you give her?"

Ishikawa face paled and sighed. His happiness had gave way to aggravation.

"There is no way you are all so dense. I can't tell you what I gave her. Why? Because it's classified." Ishikawa explained.

"Top secret?" Tsumugi ventured.

"Above top secret. If the right people were here right now, I'd have to shoot all of you, so you should just forget about it, okay?" Ishikawa said.

The woman and the two men from earlier suddenly appeared. A third man who looked rather young accompanied them. She looked at Ui and then at Ishikawa.

"Number three?" she asked.

"Works like a charm, Major."

"Togusa, this girl is now a VIP. Take her to Captain Katsuragi. I just saw her a moment ago, so she's in the area. Tell her to pick thirteen of her best soldiers and assist you in getting this girl out of the city. Call our resident physicians and arrange a medevac to our hospital so the girl can receive further treatment if necessary."

"Don't forget this."

Ishikawa threw Togusa an unmarked IV that contained more of what he just given Ui, which he caught with ease. Togusa offered his hand to Yui and helped her stand back up before he carted Ui away. Yui began following until she heard Ishikawa clear his throat sharply. She turned and look at him quizzically, blinking in wonder. Ishikawa pointed to the Major.

"All of you are coming with us. It is a matter of national security. Get in the vehicle." the Major stated.

"What about my sister?" Yui asked.

"I just ordered an exceptional Captain to _abandon her post_ and form a squad to ensure beyond a shadow of a doubt that your sister gets out of this city alive."

"That doesn't happen every day?" Yui ventured nervously.

"No."

"Yui, given the situation and chain of command and all kinds of stuff like that, you should probably get down on your knees and bow until your head touches the ground." Ritsu said.

"Don't." the Major requested.

"Can you promise me you won't hurt her?" Yui asked.

"I promise." the Major replied. "In fact, I give you my word."

Ishikawa raised his eyebrows.

"Your sister is going to be under the care of the two best doctors our nation has to offer. She will be fine. If there's nothing further, get inside the vehicle. We don't have any time to waste." the Major instructed.

Nobody moved. They had all been expecting this might happen, but they were not prepared for it. Yui put two fingers to her lips in thought and then gave a strong nod to herself. They had just saved her sister and she needed to repay the debt. Besides, she would do whatever she could to help anyone else. Yui walked into the vehicle. Ritsu shrugged, took Mio by the hand gently, and lead her paralyzed childhood friend forward. Mio reached for Tsumugi's hand and grabbed it tight enough to pop her wrist. Tsumugi offered her hand to Azusa.

"Sisters, right?" Tsumugi asked.

"Yeah." Azusa replied quietly.

Azusa in turn offered her hand to Sawako, who took it. Since there was no way they could enter the vehicle like this, their horizontal bond of friendship ended almost as quickly as it had begun. The Major went in with them while the others stayed outside and the door closed behind them, sealing them inside a soundproof vehicle. There was enough room for the Major to stand near the door, which Ritsu found odd.

"My name is Major Kusanagi. I am already familiar with all of you. Everything you hear from this point forth is classified information. Top secret. That means if you run your mouth you're directly endangering the national security of Japan." the Major began.

"You're not with the JSDF, are you?" Azusa asked.

"No. We're from Public Security. Our unit is Section Nine."

"Are you SFG?" Ritsu asked.

"No. Our unit technically does not exist."

"Yet you're from Public Security." Azusa stated.

"That is our cover."

"I get it. You have yet to be declassified! What do you specialize in?" Ritsu ventured.

"Everything. Do you have a CD?" the Major asked, cutting Ritsu off.

They looked at each other.

"Not with us." Mio offered helpfully. "We do have one, though."

"That won't work." Azusa stated.

"I'm sorry?"

"If you're thinking about rigging up a couple of speakers and using them to drive those things away, it won't work. It has to be live music."

"When did you find this out?" Ritsu asked.

"A little while ago." Azusa replied, trying not to think of the mess she had seen.

"What makes you special?" the Major asked.

None of them could answer the question.

"Some of the other soldiers currently in the fight are also musicians. They're not having any luck at all, so I'm going to ask again. What makes you so special?"

They looked at each other, trying to figure out the answer to the question.

"The music we play comes from our hearts." Yui offered.

"I don't think that's quite it, Yui-senpai." Azusa said. "Maybe it's because an instrument sounds different depending on who is playing it. I'm really not sure. We're just amateurs."

Azusa immediately wished she hadn't said that. Why should she let Asuka's criticism get to her at a time like this? They couldn't please everyone, but it sure would be nice if they could.

"That may be true, but we don't have time to find people like you. We're going to need your help. Four hours ago, a scientific research facility thirty miles outside of this city sent out a distress signal. Those who were sent in to investigate were wiped out. This city came under attack at around the time we were on our way to provide support. The research this facility was conducting was a joint project between Japan and America. They were experimenting with teleportation."

Yui gasped and gave Ritsu a devilish look.

"You. This is because of lazy people like you!" Yui sneered.

It was hard to tell just how serious Yui was being. Most of them had learned to shrug off her anger because nothing ever came out of it.

"There is nothing lazy about teleportation. Consider the cost of oil, the lifeblood of our society. It would tank unless they could find some other reason to keep it at six dollars a gallon. Teleportation would also revolutionize tourism and the exchange of goods. Imagine buying something online and getting it that same evening. There are so many reasons why teleportation is necessary. Without it, we are not going to grow. This is our next big step and the world needs this." the Major explained.

"People are still gonna get fat." Yui said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"That's their own fault, then. How hard is it to exercise, anyway?" Ritsu asked nobody in particular.

"Who was the first to bail out of our lose ten pounds quest?" Mio countered.

"It's not like we needed it, anyway. All that's left for us to do is tone and we've got plenty of time to do that."

"As I was saying, we were working on this with the Americans. According to our sources, this project was in the final stages of testing and was about to be revealed to the public when a dimensional rift occurred on our side, opening the door to some other world where our current enemies reside." the Major explained.

"May I ask what were the odds of that happening?" Azusa ventured.

"Astronomical. To the point where it wasn't even a concern. Sadly, if it can be said to happen at least once then it is something you should be ready for."

"I guess there's still some hope left for Sawa-chan's dating future, then." Ritsu said, breaking up toward the end.

"Tainaka-san, how many boys have you gone out with?" Sawako asked brightly, tapping her flute in the palm of one hand.  
"It's kind of hard to find a boy when you go to an all girls school." Ritsu said defensively.

"Excuses make life easier, don't they, Tainaka-san?"

"Are you finished?" the Major asked.

Her tone cut through any desire to continue their idle conversations.

"We can't shut off power to the facility because it runs on its own grid. We thought of bombing the facility, but that might not correct the problem. In fact, it could leave the rift open with no means to close it. Our only option is to go in there on foot and fix the problem. To make matters even far more worse, China is sending us a unit from their special operations division and I can personally assure you that their intentions are far from honorable. They're looking for a way to do all of the work for us so we would have to owe them a favor. We're not sure how, but we have good reason to believe that China knows what our target is, which undoubtedly means that there is a traitor in our government. However, China does not know the purpose of the facility and neither can anyone else."

"Imagine the bad publicity if this were to get out." Ritsu said.

"Exactly. Then again, there's risk in everything. An airplane engine could go bad. The train could derail. The elevator cables could snap."

"A door to another dimension full of carnivorous, psychotic animals could open." Ritsu said with a sly smile.

The Major nodded.

"If China helped us they would expect us to give up the Senkaku Islands." Azusa said.

"To start with, yes. It would only get worse from there. Section Nine was to launch an assault against the facility with the other three divisions of public security dedicated to counter terrorism and black ops alongside the Delta Force and select platoons of the JSDF with the aid of air support provided by the United States. We were temporarily delayed by the attack on this city."

"Wow! That sounds like war!" Yui exclaimed.

"That's because it is." Ritsu said.

"I'm actually surprised that America would help us so quickly." Azusa remarked.

"They have to. It's part of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation." the Major said.

That's what it was called. Azusa made a note to pay more attention in history class.

"Additionally, President Sears has a close relationship with a few key members in our government. He's also good friends with many of the American generals due to his background. As fate would have it, a group of retired members of the Delta Force were nearby on one of our bases helping train our SFG. When they heard about the situation from Sears, they offered to help us. One of the scientists will be coming with us. Her name is Saya Takagi. She's the project lead. Takagi has so much faith in her work that she was actually the first person to teleport. It's safe to say that she knows what she's doing. She already has an idea of what might have gone wrong."

"And I guess you need our music." Ritsu said.

"That's right. We'll need you on defense. The longer it takes for us to cut this problem off at its source, the harder it's going to be to clean up this mess. These creatures love making nests and have done so in several apartment complexes and a few business buildings. They also breed rather quickly, which seems to be their focus now. As I'm sure you all know, there's strength in numbers. If they keep doing so unchecked, this city is going to fall. By the looks of things, this entire process has been rather easy for all of you. It hasn't been for us. They're not sluggish and inept when we engage them. They're actually quite deadly and fairly intelligent. Most hunt in packs and do so rather effectively. Without your help, taking back that facility would be incredibly difficult."

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything more. We're happy to help, right?" Ritsu volunteered.

"Definitely." Azusa agreed.

The other girls nodded, siding with their club president.

"Good. Satellite data suggests that the surrounding area is absolutely crawling with opposition. I imagine the source of this mess is no different. We'll be providing you with amps, lighting, spare instruments, and whatever else you may need. It won't be like you're at a real concert, but it should be enough."

"What about the drums?" Ritsu asked.

"Already taken care of. You just need to do whatever it is that you do. Our unit will be personally protecting you, so you're under me. Do exactly what I say and you will make it out alive. You're not officially members of any unit, but our Chief has prepared a generous package to compensate all of you for your participation."

"What does that include?" Ritsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A quarter of our yearly salary and the assurance that so long as you pass the entrance exam, you will be admitted to the college of your choice."

Ritsu dropped her drum sticks. None of them could believe what they had just heard. The money was nice too, but the ability to enter whatever college they wanted without having to worry about their application being rejected was probably the most amazing thing they could have been offered. Mio giggled nervously.

"What?" Mio asked with a wide smile.

"One more time, please." Ritsu requested.

"Yes." Tsumugi added breathlessly. "I don't think I heard you right, either."

"I said you'll get a quarter of our yearly salary to spend on whatever you deem appropriate and peace of mind when you apply for the college of your choice so long as you pass the entrance exam. Furthermore, you will all find it significantly easier to get real jobs once you enter the working world."

"What do you mean by real jobs?" Azusa asked for clarification.

"City jobs, government jobs, jobs in your field." the Major elaborated. "In other words, something better than a call center representative or a waitress."

"It sounds like you really take care of your people." Mio said.

"Half your yearly salary? Is there even possibly that much yen left just laying around that you could give to us? You must make, like, what? At least fifty million yen a year?" Ritsu asked.

"Something like that. Just remember one thing. You never met us." the Major said.

"Do you think you can do that, Yui?" Ritsu asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I can keep a secret!" Yui replied, giving Ritsu a V for Victory with her fingers.

"That means you can't tell Ui!" Ritsu said.

"I won't, I promise. Ui respects my secrets."

"There's something else you should all know." the Major said.

She let the statement hang to draw out the suspense.

"During the evacuation, the JSDF has been collecting the names of everyone who has escaped. They put up a quick blog to account for the survivors. It would appear that your parents are all safe."

"Are you serious?" Azusa asked, leaping from her seat and taking a step closer to the Major.

"Yes."

"You're not lying? You're telling the truth?"

"I am not lying. I am telling the truth."

This time, it was Azusa's turn to finally cry. It wasn't often that she shed tears of happiness, but her relief that her mother and father weren't being devoured by some unspeakable creature was possibly the best thing she had ever experienced, even better than being given a free ticket to success for the rest of her life. Azusa compulsively lunged out at the Major, who instinctively jerked to counter her advance until she realized that she was about to receive a hug that was so strong it knocked her up against the door of the vehicle.

"Thank you so much!" Azusa said, using the most polite form she possibly could.

The Major had to be a stranger to strong emotions, because she looked positively awkward in Azusa's embrace. She eventually returned it, wrapping her arms around Azusa's back. Sawako caught a slight hint of sadness in the Major's eyes as she silently recalled a memory she had buried in herself long ago. She only let this slip for a fraction of a second before she looked normal again. The Major gently disengaged Azusa's hug and pushed her away, adding a pat to her shoulder for good measure.

"It will take us about thirty minutes to get to the facility. You have until then to decide what you're going to play."

"Any requests?" Tsumugi asked.

"None. If it makes it easier, loop the first song. We won't mind. Are you all ready to leave?"

"I have to go to the toilet!" Yui said, afraid that she wouldn't get the chance to do so.

"Come to think of it, where's Giita?" Tsumugi asked.

"Oh, no! I left him on the platform! I hope he remembers what I told him about not letting strangers play him!"

"My stomach is about to cave in on itself. Do you have any rations?" Ritsu asked.

"Could you please let me wash my face? I feel so dirty." Mio said.

"I need someone to take a look at this." Azusa said, pulling her hair away to reveal the gash on her skull.

The Major's demeanor remained impassive, although Tsumugi detected a slight twitch in her right eyebrow.

"You girls have ten minutes. I'll accompany you to the restroom." the Major said as she stepped outside. "

The two men guarding the vehicle looked in curiously.

"By the way, that's Batou and he's Saito. You'll be working together."

The girls bowed politely. Batou was the taller man. Aside from being built like a professional body builder, his goofy grin and odd goggles were his most distinguishing features. Saito had an ugly scar across his left eye from a knife wound gained some years earlier. He looked rather bored.

"Ishikawa, see to her. Head wound." the Major ordered, pointing at Azusa.

Since there was no time for stitches, Ishikawa cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around Azusa's head. She let her hair down so she didn't look nearly as silly. Azusa was given half a pill from a bottle of prescription strength Motrin. She ate a quick ration and downed it with some water and decided to use the restroom while she still had a chance. Ishikawa followed her since he knew the Major wouldn't want them wandering off anywhere alone.

"So, have you played anywhere?" Ishikawa asked as they walked.

"Not really. We had one venue at a club, but the audience was mostly just the people who had already heard us at our school festival."

"Gotta start somewhere. How long have you been playing the guitar?"

"Ever since I was twelve."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Everyone but Yui-senpai has been playing for a while. She actually just started. That's okay, though. Yui-senpai is somewhat of a prodigy."

A new train had arrived and everyone was piling into it. The station was starting to clear out.

"What about you?" Azusa asked.

"Me?" Ishikawa shrugged. "I've never really taken the time to learn an instrument. Rumor has it that the Major is pretty good with the piano."

That was hard to imagine, but the thought did bring a smile to her face. The girl they had saved who had humiliated them in the bar the other evening was about to step into the train when she caught sight of Azusa. She broke from the line and rushed over to her. Azusa looked up at the taller woman as she approached and bowed low.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. I'm. . .I'm sorry about what I said to you."

Azusa had to suppress a sneer. Of course she was sad. Now. Resentment only compounded suffering and further aggravation was something Azusa didn't need in her life right now, so she decided to let it slide and take comfort in the fact that she had inadvertently made an acquaintance.

"Every band thinks that they're special. They all want their big break. It gets a little annoying. After listening to so much music, you can't tell the good from the bad anymore. I couldn't see it the other day, but you girls are special. I would like it if you would send me a copy of your CD. I'm nobody special, but I can at least help make hype and get people around here to notice you." the woman said.

The train she could have gotten on pulled away. It would be another twenty minutes until she could leave and there was no telling if another attack would come during that time. She didn't appear to be bothered by this in the least and kept smiling at Azusa, who believed that her words were indeed sincere since she had set aside her chance to escape just so that she could thank one of them in person.

"Okay. We'll send you one." Azusa said.

"Great! Here's my address." the girl said as she handed her a sheet of paper. "I can see you're going to help the military. Be careful, okay?"

"Sure. I think we'll be fine."

The woman nodded and waved goodbye, running back to a bunch of soldiers who were popping open a crate full of flamethrowers just in case another one of those slimes appeared.

"Friend of yours?" Ishikawa asked.

"A former critic, apparently." Azusa replied.

"The shoes on the other foot, huh?"

"That's one way to put it."

Azusa went inside the restroom with the other girls and chose to tell them about what had just happened a little later. Once finished, they all made their way back to the Wolverine. The Major sat in the seat specifically designed for the squad commander. Batou, Saito, and the band used the benches while Ishikawa took the drivers seat. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze inside. The Major played with her phone for a moment until she opened up a line with everyone she needed to speak with.

"All units ready to advance?" the Major asked, getting an affirmative from each one. "Then let's move out."

**NEXT TIME :** And the winner is. . .me! Ritsu here! Thanks everyone! I was only one vote ahead of Azunyan, not that there were very many of them. I guess that's just how it goes when you're working with **Some1Else. **If we had tied, I was informed I'd win so as not to show favoritism. Besides, Azunyan is all over this story. Azusa thought this, Azusa did that, Azusa is freezing her twintails off, Azusa saved the world by playing Nightman by The Acacia Strain! Sheesh! I want my own fic from this author and I'd rather it not be a dark fic.

Oh, one more tiny thing before the preview. I'm supposed to say this. See all those characters from other shows? They were originally OC's, but they were borrowed and brought into parity with our universe because the OC's were pretty much like them anyway. What a risky gamble! There will be more on that later after the story, but I digress! The plot has already thickened! In the safe confines of an armored moving vehicle surrounded by soldiers who could break our necks with two fingers, a debate occurs! What shall we play? What _can _we play? More importantly, will the plan actually work or will we all get mauled to death? Find out Monday in the next installment of Target Audience!


	8. Sold Out

**Chapter 8 : Sold Out.**

Shortly after they began driving, the girls realized the Wolverine was a heated vehicle. They were glad to get the opportunity to finally thaw out. Now that they could actually smell again, they detected the very strong odor coming from Ritsu. They would not be able to get it out. Ritsu would have to burn the uniform, which had become discolored in the parts where the thick mucus had hit her. She continued munching on rations. Being raised by a mother who had trouble cooking ensured she found them positively delectable. Tsumugi borrowed a smart phone from Saito so she could visit the blog containing the list of survivors and browsed through it. She gave an immense sigh of relief when she came across Nadoka Manabe and Jun Suzuki. Tsumugi showed everyone. At the end of the bench, Yui giggled, happy to finally be so warm.

"I feel like I'm under a kotatsu." Yui said as she leaned on Saito's shoulder, who grudgingly allowed it.

"So what songs are you going to play?" Sawako asked, getting them back on topic.

They looked at each other as the AMV roared along. None of them had thought about it yet. The Major had her eyes glued to the automated turret, which she was in charge of operating. She looked back at them for a moment.

"You've made how many of them now?" Sawako asked.

"Twelve with three currently in production." Ritsu answered.

"Maybe we should just do a cover." Mio said.

"That might work, but of what?" Sawako asked.

That made them even more ambivalent.

"Coming up on a pack, Major." Ishikawa said from the drivers seat.

"Keep driving." the Major said.

The thumps that were made as the Wolverine ran over some creatures the girls had yet to deal with were quite humorous.

"Can they get in?" Yui asked Saito, who sat next to her.

"Not unless there's one out there that can lift three tons or cut through four layers of armor." Saito replied.

"I think we should play the songs we like the least." Mio said.

"Why?" Sawako asked.

"Because our music does seem to be hurting them." Mio replied.

Azusa and Ritsu rolled their eyes.

"I already said it's because they can't take our level of talent. Nobody is ready for us yet. Besides, I thought you said you liked all of our songs" Ritsu said.

"I was thinking maybe Don't Say Lazy, actually." Mio said.

"You don't like that song because you don't like to sing." Ritsu said.

"Yui is better at it than me."

"Whatever. At least you can read music."

That went right over Yui's head, who was distracted by the pretty screen the Major was looking at. To her credit, Yui was starting to learn what notes represented sound, but it had been a year after she had first started playing the guitar.

"Maybe we don't actually have to sing." Tsumugi pointed out.

"That is true." Ritsu remarked.

"It's not much of a show, then." Batou said.

Everyone vocalized in agreement with that. Sawako had a feeling that they were right back to where they started.

"Alright, you want to do a cover? Perhaps you should play something from Vomit Remnants?" Sawako suggested.

"You would like that band. They're not quite our style." Ritsu pointed out.

"Something from Aya Hirano, maybe?" Batou suggested.

The conversation died. Sawako had been thinking he was pretty attractive until just now.

"You'll have to excuse his taste in music." Saito said.

"Hey, I don't know what Japanese girls listen to these days." Batou said.

"Obviously the same music you do." Ishikawa said from the drivers seat.

"I'll have to cast my vote for Don't Say Lazy." Azusa said.

"Then you will play that song." the Major ordered.

Her tone left no room for argument. That certainly made it easier for them to decide.

"Okay. After that, I guess we could follow it up with my song, Jajauma Way To Go." Azusa said.

Saito snickered and covered it up by pretending to wipe his nose.

"Let's also play that new one we're working on that Yui wrote last night." Tsumugi said.

"That seems like years ago." Ritsu said.

"No, let's not play that one and say we did! It's not ready for release yet!" Yui said. "Let's do Fude Pen instead!"

"Yui, are you familiar with the concept of irony?" Mio asked, thinking of their most recent review for that song and what would happen once they played it.

"Maybe, but I would need an example." Yui said.

"You just. . .never mind."

"Let's put Lazy at the front. Then Way To Go, Fude Pen, and Fuwa Fuwa Time while we're at it." Ritsu suggested.

"I could play Fuwa Fuwa Time in my sleep." Azusa muttered.

"Are we going to have time for a sound check?" Tsumugi asked.

The Major shook her head.

"Does it even matter?" Mio asked.

"Of course it does!" Ritsu replied.

"I'll take care of that while you play." Sawako said.

"Four should be more than enough. If not, start a loop." the Major stated before they could go off on a tangent.

"Let's get ready." Azusa said cheerfully, glad to have everything planned.

The girls began preparing their instruments, which was particularly necessary in Tsumugi's case because so many people had been fiddling with the keytar before she finally acquired it.

"Those are some pretty expensive instruments. A Les Paul and a Fender Mustang, huh?" Batou observed.

"Nobody ever notices the bass." Mio said.

"We've got bass? Oh, that's right. We always mix you out." Ritsu joked.

Batou chuckled a bit at that, the only other person than Ritsu who found that actually funny.

"You girls gonna make a career out of this?" Batou asked.

"Probably not." Mio replied.

"Oh, well. Think of the memories you'll be making."

They did. Ritsu sometimes wished they all would have met a lot sooner and was secretly preparing a scrapbook for all of them that had what she felt were their best moments combined together in one bitter sweet volume. She was also thinking about begging her parents to buy her a camcorder for Christmas so she could capture even more moments before it was too late. In addition to making friendships she felt may last a lifetime, Yui had been introduced to all kinds of exotic sweets and that was more than enough for her.

Tsumugi cherished the fact that her house had become the best place to practice at during their free time. Ritsu didn't like the drums Tsumugi had because they weren't her brand, but that was only a minor nitpick. After homework and practice, they would abuse the theater and game room. It was always a good time at Tsumugi's house and they had all come to admit that without Ritsu it was never much of a party. Mio couldn't have asked for a better group of friends, who were all slowly helping her overcome the fear and self doubt that would have otherwise permanently kept her from achieving any of her goals.

Though handling two clubs was a bit of a chore and their music was remarkably different from the type she preferred, Sawako was glad they had coerced her into sponsoring them. Azusa wouldn't trade anything in exchange for her time spent with the club, which she was proud to say that she was a member of. Music had a way of bringing people together and their case was certainly no exception. And now, here they were all together on some crazy adventure to save Japan and none of them would have it any other way.

"You excited, Major?" Batou asked. "It's not everyday we get to work with some background music."

"I find ricochets, explosions, screams, and the chirp of an incoming message to be quite ambient." the Major replied.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sawako ventured, looking at the Major, who nodded. "If you're a major, what are you doing in the field?"

"Making sure the job gets done right." the Major replied.

"What are your ranks?" Tsumugi asked Saito and Batou.

"Dunno. Been a while since I checked. When you're in black ops, you don't really earn rank or we would all be commissioned officers in no time. Besides, it doesn't matter to me so long as I'm serving under the Major." Batou said.

"I second that." Ishikawa said from the front of the vehicle.

Saito nodded silently in agreement.

"In our unit, we follow what the Major says, who listens to what the Chief says. That's all the direction we really need." Batou explained.

"Looks like we'll be on site in fifteen minutes. Do you have everything ready?" the Major asked.

They nodded. Sawako grabbed the bat she still had. This wasn't her band and there wasn't room for a flute in any of the songs they had picked. Technically, she didn't even have to be there with them. She couldn't say she would have proffered to sit this out. If something bad happened and she wasn't there to help, Sawako would never forgive herself.

"Hey, what about that scientist? Is she really going to be there with us?" Yui asked.

The Major nodded.

"Wow. How did she survive?"

"Takagi was at the other facility at the time of the attack."

"Where's that at?"

"Hawaii."

"How did she get here so fast?"

"They strapped her in the back of a B-2 Spirit." the Major explained.

"Oh."

"It's an extremely fast jet." Saito said for her benefit.

"Oh! That makes more sense."

They could only imagine what she had thought a B-2 Spirit was before Saito had given her a hint.

"Why was the other facility in Hawaii?" Azusa asked.

"The safety commission brought in to examine the device was not entirely convinced that it was ready for use. To prove that teleportation was indeed safe and could be done without harm over long distances, several locations were scheduled to host the second gate. Hawaii was the first. Takagi apparently used the thing to get to Hawaii as a sign of good faith." the Major explained.

"Is this whole thing the real reason they built that military base outside of town that the Americans also use?" Ritsu asked.

The Major nodded silently.

"How come they built it a ways away from this research facility?" Ritsu asked.

"So as not to call attention to it due to how classified the nature of the research was, which is either stupid or clever depending on who you ask. Keep in mind that classified research is conducted in a location that has a believable front. Red flags are given to the public for a reason and are usually just decoys. In any case, military personnel were on site when this whole thing got out of hand."

"I see. While we're on the subject of classified scientific research, can you tell me what advances have been made in the field of cybernetics?" Ritsu asked.

She didn't reply.

"Nice try, kid." Saito said.

"Umm. . ." Tsumugi began. "I would also like to ask something."

"Go ahead, we're all friends here." Batou offered.

"If it is related to the mission, I will answer." the Major said.

"Why do you think these things hate our music so much?"

"Reports indicate that the creatures attack based on sound, which I'm sure you've heard over the radio. Those black orbs that are eyes must work like ears. They _see_ sound. Wherever they are from, it must be relatively quiet. I doubt anything human lives in their world. When they hunt they probably use sound to lure, intimidate, or locate their prey. However you manage to play must be more than what these things can take. Think of it like this. You're inside a very dark room for five days. You step outside and the first thing you see in the sky is the sun, which is directly above you. What happens?" the Major asked.

"I would be blind for a moment or two." Tsumugi said.

"That's right. The same thing must happen when you play your music."

"And when we use an amp, those waves become even more deadly!" Tsumugi ventured.

"Correct. I assume that with an amp they will all be overwhelmed regardless of what instruments they like the least."

"That's what happened to the ladybug." Azusa said. "We haven't seen much of those around since we took out their queen, have we?"

The girls shook their heads.

"You did what?" Saito asked.

"We found a queen in the gym of our high school and got rid of her."

"Are you talking about the kind that reproduce instantly after they sting you?" Saito asked.

Azusa nodded.

"Wow. I'm actually impressed now. You took out their queen. No wonder they suddenly stopped coming." Saito said.

"I told you that's what happened, but no. We can't listen to Batou." Batou said.

"It was a piece of cake!" Ritsu said.

Ishikawa ran over another creature. It sounded like one tried to attack the side of the Wolverine and failed miserably. One managed to hop on top and start pounding away at the roof, but the Major quickly knocked it off with the turret. Though there were no windows, it was easy to tell they were not in a good spot.

"Listen up! When we get out there, you will have fifth-teen soldiers assisting you with your equipment. They will be the stage crew. You will be the band. You will answer as one when addressed as the band. Everyone else will be forming a circle around you to protect you while you play. You girls will stay in the middle and play until instructed otherwise. Do you understand?"

There wasn't much not to. The Major had been pretty clear.

"What happens if this doesn't work? What happens if we're attacked by something our music can't hurt?" Mio asked.

"Drop your instruments and get back in the Wolverine. Any other questions?" the Major said.

They shook their heads.

"Nine, goggles ready, link up with Ronin." the Major instructed.

Each member of Section Nine put on an odd piece of headgear, which Batou was already wearing. It was opaque and completely flat, almost like some type of visor. It allowed them to use several different types of visual filters, which they could control wirelessly with a remote strapped to their wrists or the phones they used in place of radios. Ronin was their equivalent to Land Warrior, a system that greatly enhanced their combat ability. Something broadsided their vehicle enough to get it to spin. Ishikawa corrected the problem while the girls fell to the floor, clutching their instruments protectively. The Major eliminated the threat with the turret she controlled. Luckily no one was hurt, but it did serve to rattle Mio even more than she already was.

"ETA five minutes!" the Major announced.

It sure hadn't felt like it had taken very long for them to get all the way out here with everyone who was coming with them. Ritsu had her arm around Mio and a broad grin on her face that was slowly putting Mio at ease. Seeing her smile made Azusa feel a bit more comfortable as well. Ritsu was indeed scared, but she was very good at hiding it. Yui looked ready for this, obviously focused on repaying them for saving her sisters life. Sawako had her eyes closed, meditating quietly amidst the chaos. Tsumugi was swallowing the kanji for person multiple times.

"It's just like right before a show." Azusa said as if it were an epiphany.

"What?" Ritsu asked, laughing nervously as she did.

"Are you crazy? Those things want to kill us!" Mio exclaimed.

"So did Asuka, but we didn't let her do that, did we?" Azusa remarked.

"This is still remarkably different, Azusa!" Mio persisted.

"We've had this discussion before!" Ritsu said, annoyed.

"Come on, Mio. It's our own summer fest!" Yui said, excited.

"But it's winter! Ritsu, are you not the least bit self-conscious? Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is going to be? Do you know how stupid we're going to look?" Mio asked.

"What are they gonna do? Tell us we suck? I guess we'll just stop playing and go home if they do. Then we'll see who has the last laugh!" Ritsu said.

"I, for one, would rather you do play. I don't know what you sound like, but anything is better than dying out here in the cold." Saito said.

"There, you see?" Ritsu asked, pointing at Saito.

"But. . .but. . .we're out in the open." Mio stated, running out of things to worry about.

"Oh, would you knock it off? Look, focus on one other thing than playing music. Don't trip." Ritsu instructed.

As that would reveal her panties. Again. Mio's fear wouldn't let her smile properly, but a mutilated smirk did manage to grace her face.

"After this, let's go to a public bath together and crash at Yui's house and eat a bunch of sweets since I'm pretty sure they're not going to have school for the next few days." Ritsu said.

Azusa thought about mentioning that they would more than likely be on standby for the next few days until this entire disaster was cleaned up. They'd probably be stuck in some tent or a hotel. If this went well, it wouldn't be too bad. After that, they could go over to Yui's house and laugh about how silly all of this had been. That sounded really nice. Mio thought so too and for once her negativity didn't bring to light what the others knew was going to happen the minute they closed the gate.

"Justice, this is Major Kusanagi." the Major said in fluent English. "We are minutes away from the location, are you ready to provide air support?"

"Affirmative, Major. We just got here and are standing by."

"Weapons free, fire on anything that isn't human."

"Roger that."

She patched into the infantry accompanying them.

"All vehicles, form a circle in the parking lot, fire at will!"

The maneuver took less than a minute and no sooner had they parked than the Major opened the door, giving them a narrow view of Japan's beautiful countryside.

"Show time, ladies!" Batou shouted.

"Remember, stay in the middle, play your music! Move out now!" the Major ordered.

Azusa stumbled out of the Wolverine, almost tripping and face planting in the ground covered with a light blanket of snow, her adrenaline ringing in her ears. The cold hit her in the face with the force of a bucket full of wet sand.

"Go, go, go!" the Major shouted to keep them moving.

It was getting really dark outside. The stage crew was already quickly setting up the area for them. Azusa assumed these men were from the Delta Force because they were taller than anyone else. They had been smart enough to get some lights so that the girls could see what they were doing. Portable generators running on batteries would provide them with electricity. Three men were physically carting a drum kit along that had been placed atop a wheeled slab of wood. Once they had it where they wanted it, they gently lowered it to the ground. Ritsu saw that the kit came with a hi-hat, so she set aside the one she already had. The drums were a beautiful metallic blue, the color she would have preferred but instead had to settle for yellow to get the set she currently owned.

"They're everywhere!" some soldier shouted.

Turrets were going off all around them as the soldiers picked off the beasts that had just arrived in their world. They could see things flying around in the air that definitely weren't birds and a large plane off to the right that must have been a gunship. The men carrying the amps were waiting with the cords in their hands. Azusa, Yui, Tsumugi, and Mio quickly jacked in while Ritsu took a seat behind the drums and found that they were identical to the set she had back in the clubroom. It made her wonder what else they knew about her.

A Lovecraftian monstrosity the size of a lion that vaguely resembled a peacock mantis shrimp broke past their vehicle barricade and began heading for the nearest possible meal. One soldier hit it with a burst from his flamethrower while several other soldiers began shooting it with the AA-12's they carried. If it hadn't walked headfirst into a wall of fire, it might have taken out a few of them. The girls watched as it ran around in a terrified circle and rolled on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire. They were captivated by the brutality.

"Play!" Sawako shouted.

Yui stood in front of the mic for a moment. Ritsu cringed. She had better not start emceeing or they would have to put a stop to it immediately.

"We are After School Tea Time and we're here to kick your butts!" Yui shouted to the creatures.

She pointed at Ritsu, who rose her drumsticks above her head and began tapping them together.

"One, two, three, four!" Ritsu said.

With that, they immediately launched into Don't Say Lazy, one of the few songs from their early days that they had still retained. Mio began singing. Those who believed that this was the stupidest idea they had ever heard soon found themselves eating their words. The creatures were immediately affected and exhibited their revulsion with varying degrees of hilarity. Those that didn't hemorrhage ran away or committed suicide. None of them seemed strong enough to withstand a full attack of the music at the volume it was at. Any military in the world would do whatever they had to in order to win a particular battle. Odd things had been done in the name of victory throughout the course of mankind. Those that were familiar with some of them believed that this one in particular took the cake, ate the whole thing in one bite, and asked for seconds.

All of the soldiers were rather surprised. They weren't expecting the girls to be as good as they were and it clearly showed. Most of them believed they would be just another lackluster high school band that didn't have its sound together and could hardly play one song to save their lives, but After School Tea Time had proved them wrong. These girls knew what they were doing and they did it very well. Sawako adjusted each amp appropriately as they continued playing for maximum effect since cranking the thing up all the way was muting Ritsu's drums. Years of metal concerts had made her ears immune to the pain newbies felt when standing too close to an amp.

Miraculously, there wasn't that much to adjust. Even Ritsu's drums had somehow been assembled just the way she needed them to be. Their band was in top form. Ritsu wasn't playing too fast, Mio had her hands steady enough to properly play despite how scared she was, and Yui was actually starting to move to the music. It had taken her some practice to do so without unplugging her guitar from the amp, but she had eventually learned what her limitations were while she was jacked in. The LED lighting made them look very dramatic as they played. It literally seemed as if they were in their own little world inside their formation, a beacon of shining light in the darkness. Out of all of them, Ritsu seemed to be having the best time, as usual. She truly was the ideal choice for their club president. This was infectious, and soon they all began to feel invincible.

The soldiers protecting them held their positions. Nothing seemed to be attacking and they were all having a rather easy time killing the beasts from a safe distance with their weapons. The things Azusa had spotted in the air earlier were beginning to fall out of the sky all around them. At one point the guy with the flamethrower stood in front of them and sent a burst of fire into the air. It was better than a zippo lighter. Mio didn't falter as she didn't find it funny, but Ritsu had to catch herself before she missed a beat. Azusa kept an eye on the Major as she played, resisting the urge to go wild like Yui was. The Major waited for them to play two more of their songs before she pooled together the men they had ridden to the show with and three extra's who looked like they belonged to her unit.

Azusa looked around, trying to spot the scientist. Directly to her left she saw a very well endowed woman wearing a gothic outfit with twin tails, glasses, and blazing pink hair dyed to perfection. That had to be her. She didn't fit the stereotypical image of a scientist. In fact, she seemed intent on changing it. She was currently making out with a barf bag. The nearly instantaneous trip back to Japan via military aircraft hadn't gone very well for her. A Wolverine moved out of the way, leaving an opening at the head of the circle that the Major's team ran past. The front door to the facility loomed before them. Mist bellowed out of the entrance when they stepped inside. Azusa had to check to make sure she wasn't seeing things and squinted hard to see past the falling snow. Yes, there did appear to be a thick fog spilling out of the building.

The members of Section Nine didn't let this bother them. They all disappeared inside, but it wasn't long before they came running out of the building. Not a good sign. A group of sasquatches followed them as they made their way back to the convoy. Some dead scientists under influence from the jellyfish dragon fly thing accompanied them carrying sharp objects. Once they crossed over a mysterious invisible line, they all collapsed and began convulsing violently. The Major thought about this for a second and then went back to the girls, calling for a time out with her hands.

"Band, stage crew, you're coming inside with us."

The soldiers in charge of lighting and carrying the equipment nodded, happy that they weren't getting shot at or attacked and satisfied that everything was going so well. The Major turned to address all the other soldiers under her command. She must have been in charge of this entire operation, which was quite impressive.

"Everyone else get back inside your vehicles! Remain in the area in case you are needed. Engage any creature you come across. Takagi, you're with us. For the purpose of following my directions, you're in with the band unless I address you specifically."

"Nice to have you, groupie!" Yui said.

Takagi nodded weakly and gave them the sign of the horns. Her and that bag really needed to get a room. Yui turned the volume to her amp all the way down before unplugging it. Sawako helped get the drum kit back on the cart. One man took the chair she had been using while the other carried her hi-hat. Ritsu felt like a princess.

"There's a thick fog in that building. My guess is that it's coming from the rift. Don't worry about what you can't see. Leave that to us. There's enough room in the lobby for you girls to play. We'll make our way to the lab. Once we have it secure, you'll move up and play in the lab while Takagi closes the rift. In and out. Just like that. Got it?" the Major ordered.

Everyone nodded.

"Major, this is Justice. There are two JH-7's in the area who are not responding. We believe they may be here for recon." the American captain in command of their borrowed gunship stated.

"Tell them that there are Japanese soldiers on the ground and inside the facility." the Major instructed.

"Roger that." the captain said, his tone uncertain.

The Major signaled for everyone to hold for a moment.

"Major, this is Justice. The pilots have acknowledged your message and will return to base after they have flown over the area."

When the two fighter jets from China arrived less than a minute later, they flew over them as low as they possibly could.

"That could have been ugly." Batou remarked.

"All right, now we're moving forward." the Major instructed.

"Let me see your war face!" Ritsu asked one of the taller soldiers who had been carrying her chair in fairly reasonable English, pointing her drum sticks at him to single him out.

They both looked at each other viciously and screamed at the top of their lungs, which was followed by laughter. Azusa smiled. Only Ritsu. After everyone had gathered their equipment, they headed for the front door while the rest of the team boarded their vehicles and prepared to circle the area. The fire team stacked up against the front door and went in again, clearing the first room a second time.

"Stage crew, move up, work fast! Band, move up, hold behind us!" the Major shouted.

In less than five minutes the room was ready for them. During that time, the girls improvised a song to keep the creatures at bay, but none came. As had been the case before, those who were carrying the amps held the plugs ready for those who needed to use them. The lighting inside the building had been destroyed by some of the creatures who preferred to lurk around in the dark, but they could tell that the power was still on in other ways. That was one less thing to worry about. The humidity in the room was thick and there was something odd about the fog that made it clear it hadn't formed naturally.

"Okay, let's clear every room in the building. Band, you're on!" the Major instructed.

**NEXT TIME : **This is Yui again. The next time you see this story it will be marked as complete, but we're not out of the woods yet! If you thought what happened to Ton-chan's plastic stunt double in chapter two was bad, you have underestimated just how drastically things can spiral out of control. That's the only way I can think to preview chapter nine without spoiling it and there simply is not a way to preview chapter ten without spoiling it. If you've made it this far, you can wait a few more days and dream about the exciting conclusion to our tale of friendship. In the meantime, it's interesting to see how many fans we have worldwide judging by the story traffic. I wonder why there are no hits from Japan? That seems kind of. . .ironic.

* rimshot *

Thank you, Ricchan! I think.


	9. Crescendo

**Chapter 9 : Crescendo.**

They began playing the next song in their set. Takagi tossed her bag in a trash can and took a seat on one of the couches while the girls played. One member of the stage crew leaned in close to say something to another since the music was so loud. Azusa watched the guy wave his hand in the air and shrug. That must have meant he thought they were average, which was fine. Average was better than terrible. Gunshots echoed throughout the abandoned facility as they neared the end of their last song and prepared to take it from the top. Takagi tapped her feet in tune with Ritsu, which had to have meant that she was at least tolerating the music and could sense the beat.

It was reassuring to play to such an audience in a room as cramped as the one they were in. This wasn't nearly as awesome as playing outside had been, but they didn't let it bother them. Eventually the Major came back twenty five minutes later by Azusa's count judging by the time it took to play each song. She was in the middle of Way to Go when their third time out was called. Nine didn't look worn out in the least. In fact, it was as if they hadn't left at all.

"The area is secure." the Major announced.

"Most of 'em were already dead thanks to you girls, but we popped 'em twice in the head just to make sure." Batou said, patting his rifle for emphasis.

"Is that a compliment?" Yui asked, completely confused.

"Sure is."

"Stay sharp! We can talk later. Let's finish this. Band, stage crew, follow me." the Major requested.

Azusa knew that this was going too fast. Something bad was going to happen. It was a powerful omen that sent a chill down her spine as they made their way through the facility and passed the bodies of a multitude of creatures. None had seemed to make this building their nest, which was only natural since they hated each other so much. It wasn't long until they reached their destination and the girls caught a glimpse of what would later become a major means of transportation once the little annoying kink that had started this ordeal was worked out.

It was an impressive display. On one side of the room was their world while on the other was a dark swamp thick with unique vegetation. Giant mushrooms, mysterious plants of all shapes and sizes that didn't look like anything on Earth, blue soil, and large trees loomed in front of them. Some of the foliage was luminescent. It was completely silent in the room to the point where it was positively eerie. The gate was twenty feet long and twenty feet high. It was a good thing that nothing large had been in the area this rift had occurred in because it could have gotten through rather easily.

At each end of the window into this other realm were two large slabs without any distinguishing features. There was a black bar that had been placed into the ground that connected the two slabs. It looked like an elongated staple. At either end of the bar before it met the slab, the bar became red. Wires were running from them to two consoles in the room. That was it. The science behind it all had to be incredible since it looked so simple. One could literally pick a destination, see it right there in front of them, and cross over to wherever they desired.

Tsumugi tried to imagine how this worked. It didn't look like matter was broken down and transported to the other destination. They must have been working with wormholes, which meant that random portals to violent realms were actually the least of their worries. How could they see where they were going? Tsumugi had no idea, but she had a strong desire to try it out since she hated airplanes. It then occurred to her that a teleportation port probably wouldn't be as terrible to use as an airport.

They absolutely had to fix this thing.

Takagi stepped in front of a large control panel tucked in the right corner and began tinkering with it in silence, looking for a way to close the rift. Ishikawa and the Major stood by her side, watching her as she worked. The panel was fully operational and Takagi was running a diagnostics program designed to find problems in the system. The stage crew was working quickly to get the area set up. One of the lights fell over, clattering to the ground noisily. Batou helped picked it up. Mio accidentally knocked over the mic stand, causing a burst of feedback to erupt from the amp. The whole team was a bit distracted. They were just about ready to start playing when Azusa felt something slimy wrap around her ankle. With a sharp tug, she was brought to the floor on her back and then dragged across the room toward the gate, screaming the entire way.

"Azunyan!" Yui shouted.

Yui was the first one to go after her before anything could be said. She almost took off running at the speed of light. The other members of the band followed, Ritsu once again with only her hi-hat. Sawako looked at her baseball bat, weighed her odds, and rushed in after her students. The Major face palmed so hard she heard her nose crack. Somehow this turn of events didn't really surprise her. The Major reached inside one of her satchels and pulled out a silencer, quickly attaching it to the end of her assault rifle. She opened the line she needed on her phone.

"Units Two, Five, and Six, you are needed as reinforcements inside the facility."

With that taken care of, she turned to her comrades.

"Stage crew and Nine, protect Takagi! Takagi, if you can figure out how to close the gate, do so if this room is attacked, but try to give me at least fifteen minutes to get Azusa back, starting now!" the Major ordered.

"Just you? I don't think so!" Batou said.

"I won't ask you to come with me. This is not a good idea." the Major said.

"I know, but we have to save those kids! I'm on point!" Batou stated, attaching a silencer to his weapon and running ahead of her.

The Major followed him and was accompanied wordlessly by all the other soldiers who had served under her command, which was a true testament to their loyalty since this was slightly suicidal. Ritsu was taking off pieces of her tattered uniform and throwing them to the mushy ground in case they got lost. Ahead of everyone else, Azusa flipped over on her stomach to look for something to grab and felt her guitar break as it slid off of her body.

There went the best birthday present she had ever been given. All the work and time she had thrown into that guitar meant nothing now that it was useless. She began grasping at anything she could as she was steadily pulled further into the other world. The soil was muddy and smelled positively awful and she could feel herself starting to break out in hives as she was dragged through the mush. Whatever had caught her had quite a reach as she was pretty sure she had been dragged about thirty yards by now.

That could only mean one thing. It was huge.

Yui was on track to break the world record for the fifty meter dash even with the neck of a guitar in her hand just as Azusa caught hold of a tree trunk. Her fingernails sunk into it as she clutched it desperately.

"Please don't leave me behind! Please don't leave me!" Azusa shrieked, absolutely hysterical.

Her senpai was there in a second, looking at the thick tentacle that had a grip on Azusa. She stepped on it a couple of times, which did nothing. The tug it took to break off three of Azusa's fingernails and her death grip on the tree limb was effortless, as if whatever had her wasn't in a hurry, and soon she was being pulled away from Yui. Azusa saw her life flash before her eyes and her urge to live was higher than it ever had been before. Suddenly all her petty worries about her body, not ever having a boyfriend, what it would be like when the other members of the band graduated, and how much she hated tanning so easily were insignificant.

Meanwhile, the Major and her team had caught up with everyone else. Unbeknownst to the girls, Ronin was offline here, but their thermal optics were working just fine. Creatures were lumbering around, but they were quickly taken down. If Azusa wasn't screaming so horribly, they wouldn't be drawing much attention to their position. Ritsu watched as they took down the beasts that appeared out of the fog. They didn't even take time aiming down their sights. They knew where they wanted to shoot before they pulled the trigger and scored shots to the upper torso and head each time they fired. She watched the Major change a magazine so fast she didn't know what was happening at first. These were indeed very deadly people and now that they were out of the frying pan and in the fire, it showed.

Azusa's journey came to an abrupt halt. She spun around and began clawing at the tentacle around her ankle until her eyes caught sight of what had her. Her heart stopped completely for three full beats as she gazed upon the horror that had her. At first, it looked like a cave. Then Azusa realized it was a mouth. The tentacle that held her ankle was attached to its body. As she was pulled, the extra length went back inside its hardened skin, curling around a groove it had been born with like a set of intestines. There were other appendages, but they were out hunting. Since it didn't have legs, it probably used them to move when it wasn't looking for food.

Black slime was excreting from the maw. A sickly sweet scent that must have lured unsuspecting prey inside emitted from the dark abyss. Eight black soulless eyes just above the gaping maw looked down on her mercilessly. Azusa watched as two tentacles holding one of the Lovecraftian peacock mantis shrimps dragged it into the black maw. It was struggling more fiercely than she ever could and it still couldn't free itself. Once deep inside, the creature was released. The slime held it in place while a second mouth appeared and scooped up the child of an elder god. It screamed in unbridled terror. She almost wet herself when the mouth closed down on the terrified shrimp with a crunch that would make it difficult for her to eat celery from that point forth.

This was to be her fate if her friends weren't fast enough.

They stumbled onto the scene as a collective group.

"Play something! Anything! It doesn't matter what!" Sawako shouted.

Their disjointed cacophony of sound greatly angered the beast, but did not cause it to let go of Azusa. Yui grabbed a nearby rock and began beating the tentacle until the rock started struggling and jumped out of her hand. It hissed furiously at her. Legs appeared from underneath the rock and it ran away. Her look of shock could never be successfully replicated by anyone else or put into words properly. The Major switched her rifle from burst to fully automatic and unloaded on the tentacle that held Azusa while her comrades shot out the eyes of the beast and focused on damaging the other tentacles.

It groaned and shut its undamaged eyes. The coarseness of its skin made it bulletproof. It stopped moving for a second, camouflaging itself. That could only mean there was something much bigger in this world that was its natural enemy.

"Give me a knife!" Ritsu demanded Ishikawa.

He pulled an eight inch combat knife from its sheath on his leg and handed it to her. Mio, shaking violently but still in control of herself, took a knife from Saito. Tsumugi acquired one from the Major. Yui looked down at Azusa and then at the guitar in her hands. She did some sweep picking for a moment and then tossed it aside. Azusa had heard the story over how much work it took to buy the Les Paul and was surprised that Yui would part with it so easily, especially since she had even named it and had become romantically attached to it, but then she realized that this had been done for her. Yui looped her arms under Azusa's armpits and began trying to pull her back.

The three remaining girls got down on the ground and started stabbing the tentacles with their knives, which was the only thing they could think to do. It wasn't easy. Even the bullets didn't seem to be doing much damage. A spare tentacle came back from hunting and went for the Major, giving her something to contend with. She dodged effortlessly and continued firing at the appendage pursuing her, temporarily distracted from Azusa's plight. The members of Section Nine focused their fire on the new tentacle, successfully distracting it from the girls who were trying to saw through the one that still had Azusa.

Something stepped out of the clearing behind Mio, who turned to see their new visitor. It was another mantis shrimp and it roared at Mio in fury. She was stricken dumb, but somehow her body made her stand up and bring her dirty bass guitar around. Stiff as a board and her eyes wide with fear, Mio played. The monstrosity groaned in pain and ran right into the mouth of the creature that still had Azusa rather than spend another second in front of Mio. They all heard the tentacle creature dine willingly on the unexpected snack. Mio moved like a robot and went right back to stabbing the tongue, still in shock, but aware of what needed to be done. The cave beast pulled Azusa closer to its mouth with renewed fervor, determined to make this its best meal ever. Yui fell forward into the mud and lost her grip on Azusa, who was getting extremely close to the mouth now.

Tsumugi noticed the tip of the tentacle was different from the rest of it. Little bumps vaguely reminiscent of taste buds lined it. While out hunting, this was probably how it smelled. These were wrapped around the grip it had on Azusa, but a few were peeking out. Tsumugi lunged for them like an axe murderer in the night sweating beer and began cutting off the tiny buds as fast as she could, accidentally stabbing Azusa a few times during the process. This did something. The grip it had on Azusa loosened for just a second, which was enough time for Yui to pull Azusa free. The tentacle flopped around, looking for what it had lost. Sawako dove in and gave it her flute. Blind and in agony, it believed it still had a tasty treat, but it would soon discover there was nothing delicious about an extremely expensive flute. Yui carried Azusa in her arms and began running back the way they had come.

"We've got her! We're leaving!" Ritsu shouted as she ran.

Satisfied that all was well, the Major took one of her grenades from her belt and pulled the pin with her teeth. She threw it inside the maw, shot the tongue that had grown tired trying to catch her one final time with a three round burst, and began running back toward the girls. The other members of Nine were inspired to do the same thing, creating their very own neighborhood festival inside the monsters mouth. With that finished, they made a hasty retreat. They hadn't gone very far. It had only been a straight line. Even so, some of them were still worried they might not find their way back until they noticed Ritsu's trail of clothing she hadn't bothered to reclaim.

The Major was slightly concerned with the sounds she heard behind her. They were being followed by a bunch of creatures. Yui just kept running with Azusa held tight against her chest and didn't stop until the members of the Delta Force shouted at her to do so when she went running past the lab and into the hallway beyond with Sawako right beside her. Ritsu popped out next alongside Tsumugi and Mio. Bullets flew passed them into the creatures that were following them. Each member of Nine made it to the other side. The Major did a quick head count and turned to Takagi, who nodded and gave her a thumbs up, signaling that she was ready whenever the Major was.

"Turn this thing off now!" the Major yelled.

She pressed one button on the control panel in front of her and the gate vanished just as a congregation of sasquatches were about to make their way through. They could now see to the other end of the lab. Something was thumping against the floor. Looking down, everyone could see two tentacles that had been separated from the mouth of the gluttonous creature they had just attacked. That's what it got for being greedy and wondering what human tasted like. On their own, they were harmless, so nobody interrupted the two appendages as they acted out the final commands of their nerve impulses.

They began cheering in victory. Takagi was still working with the equipment. It didn't take very long for her to discover what had gone wrong. A power surge. Apparently that's all it took to open a door to a parallel dimension. The scientific community was about to have a field day. Once that had been addressed, she just had to power down the gate, but she wasn't about to tell anyone that quite yet because she was afraid they would probably kill her even though it wasn't directly her fault.

Yui set Azusa down and gave her a fierce hug, which she returned just as eagerly. The other members of her band joined in, crowding around their favorite underclassmen.

"No words can possibly express how grateful I am to all of you." Azusa said through her tears.

The Major waved Azusa's comment off as if it were nothing.

"No charge." she said.

"Don't mention it, kid. All in a days work." Batou said.

"Azunyan, I promised I'd take care of you and besides, we're family now, remember?" Yui asked.

Azusa smiled.

"I guess so, on. . .onee-chan."

"Wow, that does sound _really_ weird!" Yui said, chuckling.

"We did it!" Ritsu said, not quite believing herself. "We saved our city!"

"With style, even." Tsumugi added, patting her filthy keytar.

"Thank goodness it's finally over." Mio said, immensely relieved.

"And it was all thanks to Sawako's flute!" Ritsu said.

"Imagine that." Sawako mused, puffing out her chest in pride. She knew the flute would come in handy at least once.

Yui wasn't going to let Azusa go for at least another five minutes, which was fine. There was still something that was bothering her, though, and she sought to address it.

"Onee. . .Yui-senpai, why were you sweep picking?" Azusa asked.

"Hmm?" Yui vocalized, still caught up in their hug.

"You were sweep picking before you threw Giita away. Why?"

"Oh! A while back I told Giita that if ever there was a situation where I needed him to release his soul and possess another guitar for whatever reason, I would sweep pick him first that way he could get out and away."

Mio's mouth dropped open and Azusa blinked a couple of times.

"My guitar was no longer Giita. I couldn't carry a guitar and you. I'd rather carry you. There's plenty of guitars out there for Giita to possess, but only one Azunyan. I'm sure I'll find Giita again soon, so I'm not worried at all." Yui concluded.

"I'm so glad we're friends." was the only way Azusa could reply to that.

"Me too!" Yui agreed.

Kusanagi took out her phone and placed a call to their headquarters.

"Chief, this is the Major. Mission accomplished. No casualties. We can focus on clearing the city now."

Their joy at having saved Azusa gave way to a sense of responsibility. Though the main problem had finally been solved, there was still a lot of work to do. Each girl was tired, beaten, and emotionally drained. Yet they knew that they could not stop now.

"Are you going to need us for that, too?" Tsumugi asked, just to clarify.

"Yes. There's spare instruments in the trucks that carried your musical equipment out here. They're duplicates of the kind you already had and they will be yours to keep. We'll get some better amps so you won't have to move around as much while we clear out the heavily infested areas of the city. Remember, these things breed fast. We can't give them any time to overpower us. I know you're exhausted, but we're not quite finished yet and there's some stimulants we can give you to keep you sharp for another twenty four hours. With some additional reinforcements, it will probably take one whole week to clear out the entire area."

"What about eating, sleeping, and bathing?" Yui asked.

"We'll work those in. For now, I need to propose my next plan to the Chief. You girls get a twenty minute break. Spend it well. You've earned it."

**X**

The shots they were given contained adrenaline boosters that made Ritsu and Yui bounce off of the walls and caused Tsumugi to laugh at just about everything. Mio felt more confident than she had in years and Azusa was super excited and ended most of her sentences with nyan for the first ten minutes. Sawako had more trouble controlling her split personality, but nothing bad came out of that. Azusa received a set of stitches from Ishikawa and was forced to wear a bandage around her head with her hair down to conceal the area that had to be shaved to allow for Ishikawa to work. Her ankle was also treated as it had been twisted during her escape.

An extremely quick but very refreshing herbal bath rejuvenated her skin, relieving it of the tiny hives she had received from an allergic reaction to the material in the soil. Ritsu didn't need that much medical attention and neither did Mio, but the wounds they had incurred were also treated by Ishikawa. Tsumugi was silently jealous of their red badges of courage, but said nothing and was content that it had been her to get the tentacle to release Azusa's foot, which none of them would ever forget.

The new Les Paul they gave Yui just so happened to be the one Giita had gone to and she made sure everyone knew that. She was beyond ecstatic. None of them had ever seen her that happy. Warmer clothes were provided to them and they were allowed to clean up with Azusa. With that taken care of, they assisted in the effort to reclaim the surrounding area. Only the military and police were privy to their government sponsored concert. All civilians were forced to evacuate while the soldiers took care of what their music incapacitated, but did not kill.

To assist in the effort to clear the city and the surrounding area, the United States and the United Kingdom loaned a few of their units to Japan. China was allowed to help since they couldn't just force them to go home, but they were made to do so in a limited capacity. The retired members of the Delta Force relinquished their position as members of the stage crew to the local police as that was only fair. Other musicians were located within the military, but none were as effective as the girls of After School Tea Time. Another song list was drawn up with a couple of covers and all of the music they had written together within their band.

The going was slow and monotonous at times. Driving from place to place and playing the same songs over and over again did get a little old, but they all managed to have fun doing so. The Major was with them the entire time, overseeing everything with the help of the Chief, whoever he was. She appeared to be second in command of this entire operation and it seemed to them that this was a spot she had fallen into, but it was a role she carried out rather well.

The girls were given time to rest and recuperate once certain areas had been cleared, but nobody got more than two hours of sleep before they were called in again. The Major arranged for their families to be brought to them so that they would know they were safe, which actually improved how they played once the tearful reunions were complete. Among their numerous relatives was Ui, who had made a complete recovery. Yui hugged her for fifteen minutes straight, which was more than she had ever hugged anyone before.

An effort was made to catch some of the things to study them, which nobody approved of, but were forced to allow. It was easy enough to put them into cages when they weren't jumping out of buildings or slamming their heads against the concrete until they fractured their skulls. Aside from that, they did not run into any surprises, although it was quite a surreal experience to clear their school. Their music continued to be a giant shield that protected everyone in their immediate vicinity. Two weeks later, the operation was complete and the people present who had initially despised their music had come to accept it, but only because they were forced to or they would have gone completely insane.

One man asked if they had a CD. Soon just about everyone involved was asking for one as well. A list of names and address' were collected. There was even a way to ensure the discs got to the two classified units working amidst the regular armies. Money was actually exchanged. It was never for anything more than two thousand yen, but it was the first time they ever made any money doing something they loved and it felt better than almost anything else ever would. They were given a package of confiscated CD-R's to make this happen and as many stickers as Yui saw fit.

Things went by fast during the final days of the operation and someone other than the Major, who had disappeared along with her unit and the Delta Force, told them they were now relieved of their duty. After resting for two days straight, they all wound up at Yui's home where they proceeded to put much love into the CD's they were making for everyone who had asked. Postage was being paid for by the government.

All they had to do was just burn the disc and slap it in a case, but that wasn't nearly enough for them. While the JSDF helped people move back in and began organizing an effort to clean up the messes that had been made due to the nests, they raided an office supply store and made off with some additional goodies. It would come to be one of their defining memories together as they carried their stolen loot through the deserted streets while the military watched them curiously.

A day after that they found themselves back at Yui's, working on the CD's. The doorbell rang, which was odd. The city was still under martial law and they had no idea who it could be. Yui was the first to answer and was quite surprised to see the Major standing there, dressed in civilian clothes. She looked _completely _different, almost like another person entirely. The only thing about her that said she mighthave somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred confirmed kills were her eyes, but people could mistake their intensity for just about anything. Her teammates were not with her and she was driving a silver Nissan GT-R Spec V. Definitely not the little put-put cars everyone else bought.

"I can't stay long as I've got a lot to do, but I wanted to stop by and grab an early copy of your CD if you have about fifteen of them done. If not, I'll come by tomorrow, but just for that." the Major explained.

"It's the Major!" Yui squealed, unable to contain her excitement and running into the living room to gather her friends together.

Everyone stood until Yui put both hands forward, signaling them to stop.

"She needs fifteen of them!" Yui said, pointing to the stack they had made.

Azusa carefully flipped the first stack over and picked out the first fifteen copies they had made. Each had been numbered for authenticity. With the school semester on hiatus, they had plenty of time on their hands. The rest of the semester was probably going to be canceled and they would have a very rare extended winter break until January. There would be a lot of homework, which was what Sawako had been preparing in the company of her students. That would come later, though. Ritsu and Tsumugi helped carry the discs to the front door. By the time they had all clamored around the entrance to Yui's humble home, the Major was bringing a small empty box with her. They dumped the CD's in the box carefully. Azusa withheld the first one until the Major had finished arranging them inside the box. She then presented it to her.

"This is the first copy we made." Azusa stated.

The Major set the box down and took it. She actually smiled while examining it, which made them all beam with pride.

"Cute."

She reached into her back pocket, pulled out her wallet, and gave Yui two hundred thousand yen in cash secured by a large clip, more than what it would have cost her online or at a store.

"Consider that a tip and the only thing you'll have to remember us by, although I'm sure you will undoubtedly recognize when our Chief is doing you a favor. He's not one to forget debts and he's taken a liking to each of you based off of my word alone."

"This is goodbye, then?" Yui asked.

"Well, one can't say how life will ultimately play out, but for the time being, it is. Just keep making music and having fun and you'll be doing quite well for yourselves." the Major said.

"Can we at least be pen pals?" Yui asked.

"I'm afraid not."

"What if I join the JSDF?"

"You don't simply join our unit. You're selected when we're looking for new recruits and then you have to pass a test. There's a twenty mile hike involved across difficult terrain with fifty pounds of equipment strapped to your body and you have to be nearly perfect with a rifle. That's not even half of it and no exceptions are made for women."

"I see."

Yui knew she wasn't capable of that and looked a little sad.

"I think you've got better things to do with your time." the Major said.

The Major saluted them and held her gesture for a moment. Each of the girls returned the salute, Yui standing the most erect out of all of them.

"Thanks for all your hard work. You girls are something else. Your bravery in the face of death was commendable. Everyone you met was happy to work with you, including me. Stay out of trouble and never give up. If you ever make it big, don't forget how you started and the fact that it takes all of you to make the band."

With so many good feelings being had lately, they had become numb to their good fortune, yet what the Major had just said put them in a different state of mind entirely. None of them could prevent tearing up as they thought about just how much they valued the friendships they had formed. Once she released her salute, she effectively cut them out of her life. She didn't look back even once. Yui was respectful and knew that this had to happen. The Major took the box and walked back to her car, placing the box in the passengers seat. Before taking off, she slipped the CD into her stereo and selected the first song she had ordered them to play. Don't Say Lazy. With a shrug, she took off down the street.

The girls watched as she went, waving goodbye until the Major was completely out of sight.

**NEXT TIME. . .**

**ADMIT ONE**

**THE CITY OF TOKYO WELCOMES : AFTER SCHOOL TEA TIME**

**FRIDAY 4 MAY 2012 8:00 PM**


	10. Encore

**Encore.**

"Are you ready?" the red head shouted at the top of her lungs over the microphone.

The immense crowd in front of her roared in approval as she stood at the center of the stage with a spotlight shining down on her. It was a shame she wasn't the star of the show. Surviving the attack hadn't been easy for her, but she hadn't stopped practicing kendo since high school and was in top shape with an authentic katana at her disposal and a war hammer from her grandfather that saw her through more than a few attacks as she made her way to one of the stations that had been secured by the JSDF when the pandemonium began. It was her own bad luck she lived on the side of town that had been hit by the first wave.

She had sustained several injuries, but had made it to the safe haven in one piece, covered in blood and almost looking like one of the creatures herself. After being shoved out of the city she had been hanging around Saitama with the rest of the refuges when the news hit while she was praying at the Takanomiya Shrine. Some crazy blue haired girl was telling her equally daring lilac headed friend who was one of the shrine maidens that the military was using music from a local band to repel whatever was taking place up north. Asuka Shikami could hardly believe it herself and thanks to the creepers and shut-ins on 2Chan, she learned through eyewitness accounts that the band was the very same one she had rejected about one week prior to having to bunk with a couple of old friends.

Many people wanted to know what type of music had been played to fix the problem, which had been covered up rather well to allow for the scientific team to fix their mistakes and continue with their research. The government simply said that the creatures had come from the ocean even though the city was quite far from the Pacific. The things they had seen were pushed back with the help of a band identified as After School Tea Time. That was the only important part of the release provided by the government and that was all the public was going to get. Those who didn't know any better accepted it as the truth and went on with their lives.

After the tragedy, the band put their first album up on their new blog for free, which helped spread their popularity. Special CD's crafted with the utmost love and care were available for two thousand yen a copy. There were those who absolutely despised their music and could clearly see why they had been an asset to the military, but they were few in number compared to those who found their music catchy. With the encouragement of their fans, the band was developing a second album in between conquering the mountain of homework they had been assigned since they would need to repeat their current year.

An independent label had picked them up, offering them more freedom and royalties than the RIAJ would ever think to share. Their adviser became their manager. She seemed to know a lot about the music business and quickly gained a reputation for being rather crafty. Copies of their second album would be available the same day they had their premiere on stage in memory of those who had lost their lives in the disaster with a portion of the proceeds going to the effort to rebuild their city.

Almost six months to the day of the terrible attack a week before the concert, Asuka was paid a visit by a man in a beige suit who identified himself as Togusa. He was a member of public security. Asuka had been specifically requested to introduce After School Tea Time at their first big venue, providing that she was still alive, of course. And she had better make it good. There was no backing out of this. All she had to do was act like she was enjoying it. At first she adamantly refused until Togusa started talking about tax evasion. She paid the people at her clubs in cash. That was a big problem.

There was also questions regarding her citizenship since she had been born in Germany. They were having a hard time finding her documents that made her a legal citizen of Japan, which would have been easy to refute if they didn't have a lot of other dirt on her. Needless to say, she was happy to trade a heavy fine and deportation for her dignity.

Asuka had to drive herself to the show, which would be held in Tokyo.

At Budokan.

A local high school band that had a similar sound had opened for them, but now it was time for the main event. While the girls rushed in under the cover of darkness, Asuka tried to drive the crowd nuts. If ears didn't pop, Asuka might find herself on a plane back to Berlin. She suppressed a sneer as she went over the crowd. Glowsticks, signs proclaiming undying love for Mio, NEET's, hikimori's, otaku's, and even a few foreigners had all come to see them play. The tickets had sold out three days after they were offered. Even her good friend Haruhi was among them, driven insane by the fact that they had saved her life and now a permanent fan because of it.

Asuka spoke four languages fluently and was extremely intelligent, but all that couldn't cover for her personality. If she wasn't such a wench, she would appreciate the fact that their music meant enough to the members of society people such as herself looked down upon that they had come out of their caves for an evening of fun. Lives would be changed, friends would be made, and After School Tea Time would have their work cut out for them as they balanced academics, their band, and their personal lives.

Hopefully the airhead of the group, Yui, would get a drug addiction and die from an overdose. Perhaps Mio would gain a little weight after one beef bowl too many. Ritsu looked like she'd be little more than a delivery girl or a burger flipper if it weren't for the band. They'd be even less of a group without Azusa, who could easily team up with whoever she wanted or even possibly have her own career since she still had the body of a little girl and all the lolicons would go nuts over her. Tsumugi probably had an arranged marriage coming up. Discourse would cause their band to separate and Asuka would be happy for five seconds of her miserable life.

Luckily, their future would not be so bleak. After School Tea Time would not be the biggest band in Japan, but they would enjoy an agreeable amount of success. And as for Asuka, karma was just getting started with her, but would take into account the fact that she had actually lead Jun and Nodoka, two complete strangers at the time, to safety during the disaster.

"I can't hear you!" Asuka fibbed.

Another roar assaulted the stage.

If people were this positive about their daily lives, there would be no hate in the world.

"Are you ready for the music that saved Japan?"

Asuka almost dry heaved. That sounded so corny, but they had made her say it.

"Then without further ado, it is my pleasure to present After School Tea Time!"

_Minna ga daisuki!_ Yui began as Asuka ran off the stage.

The first song they had agreed to play was Utauyo! Miracle! It was the song Yui had written with Ui's help after Asuka had humiliated them. The band had helped smooth out all the rough parts during practice and Yui eventually got the song to come out just the way it had sounded in her head. They had been nervous before, but they were now at ease as they played. If things got rough and they felt panic creeping in, Sawako told them to look up at the lights and pretend that they were their families if they couldn't bear looking for them amongst the crowd. She had apparently done that to combat stage fright. They found that quite touching.

Keeping with the theme of being from high school, they were all wearing their uniforms as they played. Sawako had managed to restrain herself from suggesting they dress in something outlandish. Azusa figured they were doing quite well since the glowsticks were already going nuts and they hadn't even been on stage for five minutes. Her eyes searched the crowd as she played her part and Yui continued, barely able to contain her energy as she sang. Azusa wondered if she could out drum Ritsu. She located her parents towards the front, who were with the other family members of her band mates. Nodoka, Ui, and Jun were among them. They wouldn't miss this for anything.

That was okay, but it wasn't who Azusa was trying to find. Off to the right where she could barely see, hidden in plain sight, she spotted who she was looking for. The Major. Batou was with her, wearing sunglasses _at night_ now that he couldn't sport his goggles and a Mio fanshirt. Ishikawa and the others were also present in the company of an older gentlemen who must have been their Chief. Everyone but the Major and the Chief waved frantically now that they knew Azusa had noticed them. The Major looked right at her, nodded, and pointed to the stage, getting her focus back on the concert.

Now everything was right in the world. They had actually made it to Budokan. Azusa teared up as they neared the end of the song. Yui had taken the liberty of writing the kanji for little sister on all their wrists where only they could see before the concert had started. Sawako wore the badge for the eldest sister of the group. The logo for After School Tea Time was scribbled on the front of their dominant hand. She reminded herself they were being filmed and tried to suppress the tears that went down her cheeks, but decided it was fine to let a couple go, figuring everyone would just think she was extremely happy.

So perfect.

So perfect.

It was time for all of them to sing the remaining lyrics. Azusa let lose with all of her heart.

_Daisuki, daisuki, daisuki wo arigatou!_

There they all were, standing on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. . .

_Utau yo, utau yo, kokoro komete kyou mo utau yo!_

Suspended in time. . .

_Daisuki, daisuki, daisuki wo arigatou!_

United as one.

_Utau yo, utau yo, ai wo komete zutto utau yo!_


	11. Author's Notes

**Omake!**

* It would be inappropriate not to mention that I was inspired by The Dead Music Club by Tastychainsaws. After reading that story, I wanted to do a K-On fanfic. Prior to that, I hadn't even considered bothering with this fandom. I wanted the story to use the power of music in some way. Initially, they used their music to repel a zombie invasion. They were cutouts of the rage zombies from _28 Days Later_. People became these zombies when they reached a certain point in boredom and were cured when they heard the music.

* There was a side plot to this entire story that involved a bunch of clumsy moe scientists experimenting with teleportation before the whole thing went bad. They were trying to teleport a teddy bear to America.

* I did indeed borrow characters from other sources while writing this story. At the time, it seemed like a better idea than inventing a bunch of OC's. People who were not familiar with the characters would see them as OC's anyway and people who were might enjoy them more than someone they weren't familiar with.

* Ton-chan survived right up until the point where I figured out that having Yui carry him around would have been difficult to manage. Plus, his death drives home that the girls are in danger.

* I was not planning on including Section Nine at all until the girls met up with the JSDF and I decided In keeping with no crazy hair colors for the general populace within the K-On universe, the Major has black hair instead of purple hair and Batou constantly wears goggles instead of having them drilled into his eyes.

* Asuka was actually supposed to team up with them. Her weapon? A violin.

* They would have come across these odd pods that were burrowed into the street that would slowly be turning their world into one that the things were more comfortable with.

* Jun Suzuki was slated for an untimely demise, but I thought it would be better if all the canon characters survived. Ruiko Saten replaced her. What about Ton-chan? They can just buy another turtle.

* The thing that takes control of Ruiko's corpse was originally a much more disgusting centipede creature. At one point I thought of making it like the thing from. . .well, The Thing. I believe the electrical head crab thing works a little better. Plus, it's the only creature they see that's actually visually attractive.

* There was a scene where the girls had the opportunity to check in with their families shortly after they made it to safety. Azusa's family was MIA and she convinces the Major to help her find them. Her parents would then be rescued. I wondered if it would be appropriate to have her parents out in the streets looking for her, but ultimately the whole idea was cut.

* If you have ever played Crystalis (NES) or seen Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the other dimension might have sounded familiar. Now that I think about it the ladybugs should sound familiar if you are familiar with either of those titles. The other dimension does not take place in either universe.

* In an alternate universe, they don't save Azusa. Just as they are about to cross over into the other world, the gate closes. Azusa is abandoned and left to die rather painfully.

* The operation was originally a lot larger and saw them fighting the problem in America once they saved Japan.

* Have you ever come across a story where the author is arguing with one of the characters or an OC at the end of a chapter during the preview? It takes all kinds to enjoy fan fiction. I was initially afraid that having the girls do the previews would have been similar, but I think I was careful enough to avoid this by having them give a brief in-character monologue. Introductions, conclusions, chapter titles, and previews are difficult. I also don't particularly enjoy thinking up names, scenes where characters are traveling, or writing fights, but I digress. Tapping into their characters and having them do the previews for me made the process so much easier.

* I watched far too many drum solo's to get a better feel for Ritsu while writing this story. She didn't originally make off with the hi-hat. That came after I found out that it can sound pretty awesome on its own if a skilled person is playing it. It was either the hi-hat or bongo drums. Also, keytars seem quite unwieldy.

That's about it.

Thanks for reading.


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